China banks' 2014 new yuan lending hits record high

China's new yuan-denominated lending in 2014 hit record high at 9.78 trillion yuan (1.58 trillion U.S. dollars), up 890 billion yuan from one year earlier, latest data showed on Thursday.

In December, banks' new lending reached 697.3 billion yuan ,up 214.9 billion yuan from the same month of 2013, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 12.2 percent year on year to 122.84 trillion yuan at the end of December, according to the PBOC.

The narrow measure of money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 3.2 percent year on year to 34.81 trillion yuan at the end of December.

Total social financing in 2014 stood at 16.46 trillion yuan, 859.8 billion yuan less than 2013, according to data released by the central bank.