China Credit Shrinks for First Time Since at Least 2017

(Bloomberg) — China’s credit in April shrank for the first time as government bond sales slowed, while loan expansion was worse than expected in a sign of weak demand.

Aggregate financing, a broad measure of credit, decreased by almost 200 billion yuan ($27.7 billion) in April from the previous month, according to Bloomberg calculations of data released by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Saturday. That’s the first time the measure has declined since comparable data began in 2017, reflecting a contraction in financing activity.