Chinese Households Add $851 Billion to Savings in January

What’s new: Chinese households saved more and spent less in January as people deposited year-end bonuses with banks.

Household savings increased by 5.41 trillion yuan ($851 billion) in January, about 4 trillion yuan more than the increase in the same period last year and much higher than the average level, data from the central bank showed.

Meanwhile, nonfinancial business deposits decreased by 1.4 trillion yuan. Analysts at CIB Research attributed the increases to year-end bonuses paid to employees ahead of the Lunar New Year.