· China yuan being used more and more in trade w/China instead of the US$; int’l banks are pushing the use of the yuan in China trade over the buck; HSBC and Standard Chartered are among the companies pushing their clients to settle in yuan – FT  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/182a2b70-b130-11df-b899-00144feabdc0.html

· China's banks starting to cut back on lending to local gov't- projects says WSJ; not really a "new" story as there have been headlines for wks discussing how officials were pressuring banks to cut back on lending to this end market; WSJ notes that Bank of China President Li Lihui told reporters that its loans outstanding to companies backed by local authorities fell to CNY419.7 billion at the end of June, down CNY4.6 billion from December.  "This is really a soft landing for local governments,"  WSJ 

· China bank lending – a top gov’t advisor has urged the Chinese gov’t not to loosen lending targets this year; while some are calling for Beijing to permit banks to lend more than the official target this year, others think the government should be vigilant w/credit creation.  Reuters  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE67Q01120100827