BEIJING, April 13 -- Bank lending slowed in March as the government took further steps to rein in credit, amid rising inflation and asset bubble risks.

Chinese banks advanced 510.7 billion yuan (75 billion U.S. dollars) in new loans in March, down from the 700.1 billion yuan in February, the People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank, said on Monday.

That puts the total new loans for the first quarter at 2.6 trillion yuan, higher than the government targeted 2.25 trillion yuan, or some 30 percent of the planned 7.5 trillion yuan for the whole year.

"It is quite normal for the level of new loans in the first three months to exceed the planned target, as Chinese banks tend to lend more at the beginning of the year," E Yongjian, senior analyst at the research department of Bank of Communications, said.

"Besides follow-up funds for the existing government-backed projects, we will see more credit going for private sector support, including mortgage loans," he said.
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