The People's Bank of China (PBOC) lowered the rate on its one-year and 7-day lending facilities by 10 basis points after a string of data for July painted a gloomier economic picture than previously.
(Graphic: China's borrowing costs cut - 
)
Housing prices fell. Property investment also sank and new construction was weak.
(Graphic: China's housing prices fall - 
)
China's retail sales grew 2.7% in July, compared with 3.1% in June, pointing to slowing consumer spending.
(Graphic: China's retail sales -
)
Industrial production also missed expectations. Concerns over fresh COVID-19 flare-ups, worries about jobs and the crisis in the property sector have dented borrowing by companies and consumers.
Chinese banks extended 679 billion yuan ($101 billion) in new yuan loans in July, less than a quarter of June's amount, according to data released by the PBOC last week.
(Graphic: China's social financing - 
)
Most of China's recent monetary and fiscal stimulus has been flowing into savings. Chinese households added 10.3 trillion yuan in deposits in the first half of 2022.
(Graphic: China's bank deposits - 
)
According to Refinitiv Lipper, the total net assets of Chinese mutual funds has surged to a record $1.58 trillion at the end of June, 6.7% higher than at the start of the year.
(Graph
ic: Chinese money market mutual funds have the second biggest asset size - 
In the stock market, outstanding margin loans have climbed to a four-month high of 1.64 trillion yuan, while equity mutual funds have attracted $7 billion in the last two months.
(Graphic: China margin lending 
)
(Reporting by Patturaja Murugaboopathy; Additional Reporting by Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Edwina Gibbs)
By Patturaja Murugaboopathy
