China's new yuan-denominated lending in May stood at 985.5 billion yuan (about 149 billion US dollars), up 84.7 billion yuan from a year earlier, exceeding analysts' expectations and well above the previous month's levels.

    The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 11.8% year on year to 146.17 trillion yuan by the end of May, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website, carried by Xinhua news agency.

    The narrow measure of money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 23.7% year on year to 42.43 trillion yuan, the statement said.