China's new RMB-based loans in May fell to RMB 639.4 billion ($93.6 billion) from RMB 774 billion in April, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said on June 11.
China's broad money supply (M2), which covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased by 21 percent year on year to RMB 66.34 trillion by the end of May, according to the statement on the central bank's website.
The narrow measure of money supply (M1), cash in circulation plus current corporate deposits, climbed 29.9 percent from a year earlier to RMB 23.65 trillion by the end of May.
Analysts in China have attributed the decline in new lending to waning market demand from the property sector and from industries with excessive output capacities, as a result of government moves to tighten monetary policy.
The May figure brought new loans in the first five months to more than RMB 4 trillion, exceeding half China's total target of RMB 7.5 trillion for the current year.