China unveils new moves to lift economy

Beijing

CHINA announced fresh support measures on Friday for its slowing economy after data showed a worrying drop in bank lending and foreign investment growth falling to a two-year low.

The central bank said that it would lend 50 billion yuan (S$10.68 billion) to banks at discounted rates to allow them to re-lend the money to farmers and small businesses - areas of the economy that are usually short of cash.

The latest attempt to ease policy in a "targeted" manner to help the most vulnerable sectors came as data showed that foreign direc…