BEIJING — China's new yuan-denominated loans totaled 4.24 trillion yuan (about $605.7 billion) during the first two months of the year, up 130.8 billion yuan year-on-year, central bank data showed on March 11.

In February alone, new loans stood at 905.7 billion yuan, up 19.9 billion yuan year-on-year, according to the People's Bank of China.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8.8 percent year-on-year to 203.08 trillion yuan at the end of February.

The M2 growth was 0.4 percentage points higher than that at the end of January and 0.8 points higher than the same period of the previous year.

The M2 growth rebounded remarkably in February, reflecting ample liquidity in the country's market, Wen Bin, chief researcher with China Minsheng Bank, said in a research note.

The narrow measure of the money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 4.8 percent year-on-year to 55.27 trillion yuan by the end of last month.

The M1 growth was 4.8 percentage points higher than that at the end of January and 2.8 points higher than the same period of the previous year.

M0, the amount of cash in circulation, went up 10.9 percent year-on-year to 8.82 trillion yuan by the end of last month.

Newly added social financing, a measurement of funds that individuals and non-financial firms receive from the financial system, came in at 5.92 trillion yuan in the first two months, up 271.7 billion yuan from a year ago.

In February alone, new social financing reached 855.4 billion yuan, down 111.1 billion yuan from a year earlier.

The structure of social financing continued to optimize, as more loans were issued to support the real economy, Wen said.

Outstanding loans to the real economy accounted for 60.6 percent of the total social financing at the end of last month, up 0.8 percentage points from one year earlier.

The world's major economies have embarked on a new round of interest rate cuts in recent days to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus epidemic. As China's inflation began abating in February, there will be more leeway in the country's monetary policies, Wen noted, advising authorities to increase support to private and small businesses and further cut financing costs of the real economy.