Amid fears, China moves to restrain lending
Amid growing fears of a real estate bubble, Chinese officials moved Friday to restrain bank lending and put a lid on incipient inflation, a surprise action that shook financial markets around the world on concern that the leading engine of the global economic recovery could be slowing.
China has started allowing banks to sell loans to each other, an important step towards giving market forces bigger sway in the country's financial system, the central bank said on Saturday.