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How would you comment on the credit supply situation in the first half of the year? Which sectors have received the majority of credit allocations? What changes are expected in terms of the overall quantity and structure of credit in the next steps? Thank you.

Ruan Jianhong:

Thank you for your questions. In the first half of the year, financial institutions saw a 15.73 trillion yuan increase in total loan issuance, which represents a year-on-year increase of 2.02 trillion yuan. This indicates that the financial system has further reinforced its support for the real economy.

In the first half of the year, the primary drivers of loan growth were enterprises and public institutions. Loans to these entities increased by 12.81 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.42 trillion yuan, accounting for 81.5% of total credit growth. Meanwhile, household loans rose by 2.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 572.3 billion yuan. This growth in household loans was largely due to increases in personal business loans and short-term consumer loans. Specifically, personal business loans increased by 2.3 trillion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 759.3 billion yuan, and personal short-term consumer loans increased by 300.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 401.9 billion yuan.

When examining the distribution of loans by industry, it's clear that the bulk of the increased loans were primarily directed toward key sectors such as manufacturing and infrastructure. The real estate industry also demonstrated a sustained recovery in loan growth, contributing to further optimization of the loan structure. Specifically:

The growth rate of medium- to long-term loans in the manufacturing sector has stayed at a relatively high level. By the end of June, these loans in the manufacturing sector had grown by 40.3% year on year, 10.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year and 22.3 percentage points higher than the growth rate of such loans in all industries as a whole. In the first half of the year, loans to the manufacturing sector increased by 2.15 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 821.9 billion yuan. Among these, medium- to long-term loans in the high-tech manufacturing sector grew by 41.5% year on year, an increase of 11.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year. In the first half of the year, medium- to long-term loans in the high-tech manufacturing sector increased by 483.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 184.7 billion yuan.

Looking at the infrastructure industry, medium- to long-term loans have grown rapidly. By the end of June, medium- to long-term loans in the infrastructure industry increased by 15.8% year on year, which was 3.3 percentage points higher than the same period last year. In the first half of the year, there was an additional 3.25 trillion yuan in loans, with a year-on-year increase of 1.1 trillion yuan.

The growth rate of medium- to long-term loans in the real estate industry continues to rise. By the end of June, these loans in the real estate industry increased by 7.1%, a 0.2 percentage point rise from the previous month and up 8.5 percentage points from the same period last year. This marks the 11th consecutive month of increasing growth rates. In the first half of the year, the real estate industry saw an increase of 628.7 billion yuan in medium- to long-term loans, a year-on-year increase of 459.0 billion yuan.

Next, the People's Bank of China will continue effectively utilizing the dual functions of monetary policy tools, focusing on the total quantity and structural aspects. The aim is to maintain a reasonable and steady growth of credit, while consistently enhancing support for key sectors and addressing weak areas in the national economy, so as to contribute to further improving the operation of the real economy.

Thank you!