Financial intermediation 2020

Money supply of broad sense (M2)

China's new yuan-denominated loans totaled 19.63 trillion yuan ($3.03 trillion) in 2020, up by 2.82 trillion yuan year-on-year, central bank data showed.

In December alone, new loans stood at 1.26 trillion yuan, up by 117 billion yuan year-on-year, according to the People's Bank of China.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply covering cash in circulation and all deposits, increased by 10.1 percent year-on-year to 218.68 trillion yuan at the end of 2020.

The M2 growth was 0.6 percentage points lower than that at the end of November but was 1.4 percentage points higher than the same period of the year before.

The narrow measure of the money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose by 8.6 percent year-on-year to 62.56 trillion yuan by the end of December.

The M1 growth was 1.4 percentage points lower than that at the end of November but was 4.2 percentage points higher than the same period the previous year.

M0, the amount of cash in circulation, rose by 9.2 percent year-on-year to 8.43 trillion yuan by the end of last month.

The central bank injected 712.5 billion yuan of net cash into the market in 2020, PBOC data showed.

Newly added social financing, a measurement of funds that individuals and non-financial firms receive from the financial system, came in at 1.72 trillion yuan in December. It was down by 482.1 billion yuan from the same period a year ago.

Total new social financing reached 34.86 trillion yuan last year, an increase of 9.19 trillion yuan from the 2019 level.

Total outstanding social financing rose by 13.3 percent year on year to 284.83 trillion yuan by the end of 2020. Of the total, the outstanding RMB loans to the real economy were 171.6 trillion yuan, up by 13.2 percent year-on-year.

Foreign exchange reserves

China's foreign exchange reserves expanded to $3.2165 trillion at the end of December, as the country's forex market remained generally stable, official data showed.

The amount was up by $38 billion, or 1.2 percent, from the end of November, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

The December figure was a new high since May 2016, according to Wen Bin, chief analyst at China Minsheng Bank.

Commenting on the December rise, SAFE spokesperson Wang Chunying said the market was "basically stable" with orderly and rational transactions.

Due to development of the COVID-19 vaccine and the monetary and financial policies of major economies, the dollar index saw a decline while non-US dollar currencies went up in December, said Wang.

The spokesperson attributed the December growth in forex reserves to the combined effects of currency translation and changes in asset prices.

For the whole of 2020, eight months logged month-on-month growth, indicating that the steady functioning of the country's forex market had a solid foundation, said Wen.

Wang also expected China's foreign exchange market to run in a steady and balanced manner and the scale of forex reserve to remain generally stable, despite uncertainties in the international financial market amid virus-induced risks and complicated global economic outlook.

Premium of insurance

China's insurance sector reported steady premium income growth in 2020 and helped support social and economic development, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Chinese insurers' premium income totaled 4.5 trillion yuan (about $699 billion) in 2020, up 6.1 percent year on year, said the commission.

In 2020, insurance compensation stood at 1.4 trillion yuan, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier, data showed.

By the end of 2020, total assets of the sector reached 23.3 trillion yuan, up 13.3 percent from the previous year.

Securities revenue

China's 135 securities brokers saw their operating revenues reach 342.38 billion yuan (about $52 billion) in the first three quarters, according to the Securities Association of China.

In breakdown, revenues from securities trading came in at 90 billion yuan, while that of securities underwriting and sponsoring business, and asset management stood at 43.16 billion yuan and 21.26 billion yuan respectively during the period, the association said.

The net profits of the securities companies totaled 132.68 billion yuan in the first nine months, according to the association.

By the end of September, the total assets of the securities brokers reached 8.57 trillion yuan, with the net assets standing at 2.24 trillion yuan.

The net capital of these securities companies totaled 1.79 trillion yuan, according to the association.