Central bank breaks down regional social financing

China's central bank released a breakdown Thursday of total social financing on municipal and provincial levels for 2013, the first of its kind, which is aimed at strengthening financial risk monitoring in different regions.

The regional aggregate financing refer to the total new funding in the region not only from banks, but also from non-banking financial institutions including trust companies, stock market and insurers, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said in a statement.

Total social financing refers to a broader gauge of liquidity and credit in the economy.

The new statistics tool by the PBOC covers bank loans, bank acceptance bills, trust loans, bonds and securities.

"Compared with the lending figures, the -regional aggregate financing data will better -reflect the financial support to the real economy," the central bank said.

The share of lending in social financing has been declining and currently accounted for less than half of the aggregate financing in some developed eastern regions, it noted.

It will facilitate the central bank's detection and monitoring of regional financial risks, as the data of social financing at regional level reveal various financial channels, it said.

Adding up the regional financing will equal the total social financing, according to the PBOC.

South China's Guangdong Province, Beijing and East China's Jiangsu Province are the top three regions with financing of 1.38 trillion ($226.7 billion), 1.26 trillion and 1.2 trillion yuan, respectively, based on the data.

"Guangdong and Jiangsu are the top two in terms of local GDPs. It is not surprising they also top regional financing," Niu Li, a senior economist at government think tank the State Information Center, said Thursday.

Beijing also tops the list as it hosts the majority of giant State-owned enterprises and large multinational corporates which have strong demand for financial support, Niu said.