Credit to rise

China's bank loans will expand by 20 to 22 percent in 2010 to fuel the economic recovery, a leading Chinese bank predicted Sunday.

The new yuan-denominated credit balance issued by the commercial lenders is expected to reach 8 to 9 trillion yuan ($1.3 trillion) next year, according to the China Banking Development Report issued by the Bank of Communications, the nation's fifth largest commercial lender.

Chinese banks extended a record 8.67 trillion yuan ($1.27 trillion) in the first three quarters in 2009, up 30 percent year on year, to heed the government's call for aggressive lending to power the economic growth.