In the face of central government efforts to cool it down,
China's real estate sector received the highest amount of medium
and long-term loans of any industry in 2006, the People's Bank of
China, the central bank, said on Tuesday.
The top credit recipient borrowed 335.9 billion yuan (US$43.6
billlion) from major banking institutions nationwide last year, a
growth of 176.2 billion yuan (US$22.9 billion) over a year ago, the
sources said.
The sector accounted for 18.3 percent of the total loans issued
last year by major financial institutions, up five percent.
At the end of 2006, loans outstanding for the real estate sector
stood at 1.1 trillion yuan (US$146.2 billion), up 42 percent. The
growth rate was 17 percent higher than the 2005 year-end level.
(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2007)