Credit data out Friday showed Chinese banks slowed their lending in February because of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Chinese banks extended 840 billion yuan in net new yuan loans in February. Down sharply from January's record 2.9 trillion yuan. But the combined data from January and February shows a more accurate picture -- 3.7 trillion yuan, 540 billion yuan more than in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the broad M2 money supply grew 8.8 percent in February from a year ago, up from 8.6 percent in January. The broader liquidity indicator of total social financing fell to 1.17 trillion yuan in February from 3 trillion yuan in January. That data was also affected by the holiday.