Total social financing in China, which includes bond and equity issuance, trust loans and entrusted loans was 3.74 trillion yuan (US$544 million) in January, according to data released by the People's Bank of China. This exceeded market expectations, and beat the previous record of 3.48 trillion yuan, set in January 2016. Several bankers have told online Chinese news service Caixin that, since mid-January, the central bank has been issuing informal directives to both large state-owned banks and smaller commercial lenders, urging them to rein in credit. But with demand for credit still strong, banks have been using a range of off-balance sheet lending to funnel money through the shadow banking sectors, Caixin reports.