China’s new yuan loans reached 16.17 trillion yuan ($2.39 trillion) last year, up 2.64 trillion yuan from 2017, Zhu Hexin, a deputy governor of the central bank, said Tuesday at a press conference, citing preliminary data. 

The increase was three times as large as that in 2017, he said.

As of the end of last year, China’s outstanding loans grew 13.5% year-on-year, up from a 12.7% rise a year earlier, according to Zhu.

Related: China’s Not Too Rich for World Bank Loans, Report Says