Chinese banks extended more credit than expected in June as housing loans remained strong despite property curbs, amid a continuing clampdown on risky shadow lending activities.

Some analysts said the pick-up in new loans was seasonal as companies rush to meet quarter-end targets and could be masking a slowdown in credit growth as the economy cools.

Chinese banks extended 1.54 trillion yuan ($226.9 billion) in net new yuan loans in June, well above analysts’ expectations of 1.2 trillion yuan, up from 1.11 trillionin May.

Household loans, mostly mortgages, rose to 738.4 billion yuan in June from 610.6 billion yuan in May, according to Reuters calculations based on the central bank’s data.

Household loans accounted for 48 per cent of total new loans last month, down from 55 per cent in May.

Broad M2 money supply (M2) in June grew 9.4 per cent from a year earlier, central bank data showed yesterday, missing forecasts for an expansion of 9.5 per cent and compared with May’s 9.6 per cent.

The slower M2 growth, the central bank said last month, could be a “new normal” after May’s reading fell to the slowest since records began in 1996, with analysts saying Beijing is having some success with financial deleveraging.

The effects of the multi-pronged crackdown are showing up in weakened off-balance sheet financing or shadow banking activity.

Total social financing (TSF), a broad measure of credit and liquidity in the economy, rose to 1.78 trillion yuan in June from 1.06 trillion yuan in May, the data showed.

China’s central bank said last week that the shadow banking sector lacks sufficient regulation and it would increase supervision over the rapidly growing asset management industry to curb related risks.