China's new yuan-denominated lending beat market estimates to hit 1.04 trillion yuan (150.92 billion US dollars) in December, up from 794.6 billion yuan (115.31 billion US dollars) a month ago, official data showed on Thursday.

New yuan-denominated loans for the whole year amounted to a record high of 12.65 trillion yuan (1.84 trillion US dollars), 925.7 billion yuan (134.34 billion US dollars) more than in 2015, according to data released by the People's Bank of China.

The rise was mainly attributed to lending for home purchases, which surged to 5.68 trillion yuan (824.28 billion US dollars) in 2016 from 3.05 trillion yuan (442.61 billion US dollars) in 2015, although the government rolled out measures to cool the overheated property market.

However, businesses borrowed less. Loans to non-financial enterprises and organizations stood at 6.1 trillion yuan (885.23 billion US dollars) last year, down from 7.38 trillion yuan (1.07 trillion US dollars) in 2015.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 11.3 percent year on year to 155.01 trillion yuan (22.49 trillion US dollars) by the end of December.

The narrow measure of money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, climbed 21.4 percent year on year to 48.66 trillion yuan (7.06 trillion US dollars).

The central bank data showed newly added social finance, a gauge of funds that firms and households receive from the financial system, shrank slightly to 1.63 trillion yuan (236.54 billion US dollars)in December.

That brought the total newly added social finance for the whole of 2016 to 17.8 trillion yuan (2.58 trillion US dollars), up 2.4 trillion yuan (348.29 billion US dollars) from 2015.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn