PBOC data for Jan–Aug show yuan loans +10.44 trln yuan; corporate bond net
financing 2.79 trln yuan, +1.23 trln YoY; domestic equity financing by
non-financial firms 470 bn yuan, +203.1 bn YoY. Financial Times says the data
point to a change in loan intensity: capital‑intensive sectors (property, local
financing platforms) that historically relied on collateralised,
medium‑to‑long‑term bank loans have seen demand fall as the property market and
platform debt is restructured, while tech and other new‑quality productive
sectors have lower loan intensity, making higher‑quality but slower loan growth
a new normal. Financing is also diversifying and substituting: firms issue bonds
to replace bank loans and local governments use special bonds to swap implicit
debt, which mechanically reduces loan stock. The piece frames this as financial
reallocation rather than a tightening of credit, with substitution to
lower‑cost, more sustainable funding and special‑bond swaps aiding risk
clearance and higher‑quality growth.
