Chinese banks said to freeze lending

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has ordered commercial banks to freeze lending through the end of the year in attempt to slow frenzied investing, The Wall Street Journal reported. In order to comply with bank regulators’ sanctions, bankers in several Chinese cities told the paper that they are cancelling loans and credit lines with businesses and individuals. Regulators asked local banks and foreign banks’ Chinese subsidiaries to ensure that loans at year’s end do not exceed the total outstanding by Oct. 31, according to the report. Chinese officials told Bloomberg that the Commission did not impose any sort of freeze on its banks, but the Wall Street Journal’s unnamed sources confirmed the action, calling it “guidance aimed at supporting the macro-control measures being implemented,” WSJ reported. China, the world’s third-largest economy, has already raised its interest rates four times this year in attempt to curb lending, but raising rates further could boost the value of the yuan, making Chinese exports less competitive in world markets.