New mainland bank loans jumped more than expected last month to a record 4.9 trillion yuan, or about US$720 billion. The central bank is looking to kick-start an economy, hit by Covid and a weak property market and where growth has fallen to three percent, one of its lowest rates in nearly half a century.

January's new loans more than tripled December's tally and exceeded analysts' expectations, according to data released by the People's Bank of China on Friday.

Mainland banks tend to issue more loans at the beginning of the year to gain higher-quality customers and win market share. But the size of the increase has spurred hopes that business and consumer confidence is improving rapidly after the Covid curbs were lifted in December.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would jump to 4 trillion last month - up from 1.4 trillion in December and above the previous monthly record of 3.98 trillion yuan in January 2022. (Reuters)