China's business press carried the following stories on Wednesday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

February bank loans fall to US$103 bln -- China Securities Journal

China's banks granted 700-billion-yuan (US$103 billion) in new loans in February, nearly 50 percent down from January, due to the Chinese New Year holiday and credit control policies, according to an authoritative source on Tuesday.

The source said that in the first 10 days of the month new loans from commercial banks rose sharply, and total new loans reached more than 600 billion yuan (US$87.9 billion).

After the Chinese New Year holiday from the 13 to 19 February, regulators told commercial banks to rein in lending, especially for new projects, real estate, and local financing platforms.

68 listed companies double profits in Q4 2009 -- China Securities Journal

Based on their 2009 annual reports, the net profits of 310 listed companies reached 24.939 billion yuan (US$3.65 billion) in Q4 last year, contributing greatly to the whole year's performance.

Among them, 68 companies saw profits double from Q3, a strong sign of improving performance.

Total net profits of the 310 companies grew 36.06 percent to 74.998 billion yuan (US$10.99 billion) last year from 55.12 billion yuan (US$8.07 billion) in 2008.

China Mobile barred from buying SPDB stake? -- National Business Daily

According to a foreign news source, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) has rejected a China Mobile proposal to buy a stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB). Neither SASAC nor China Mobile would comment on the issue.

In a telephone interview with National Business Daily, a SASAC official said "information from foreign news sources cannot be regarded as evidence of facts."

China Mobile spokesperson Li Jun told a journalist Tuesday, "The company has regulations preventing us giving telephone interviews on this issue. You'd better send an e-mail first."

But so far the National Business Daily journalist hasn't had a reply.

Wang Jianzhou, chairman and CEO of China Mobile, said at the CPPCC annual meeting on March 3 that China Mobile planed to buy a stake in SPDB, as part of a strategy to invest outside its core business. The plan aroused heated debate in business circles.

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