Sou Hu Cai Jing·2026-01-18 09:37Core Insights - The analysis by CITIC Securities on financial data for 2025 indicates that the social financing scale increased by 2.21 trillion RMB in December 2025, which is a decrease of 0.65 trillion RMB compared to the same period last year, aligning with market expectations [1] - The decline is attributed to the early issuance of government bonds and the weakening support from high base effects in previous years [1] - There is a marginal improvement in credit issuance to the corporate sector, driven by banks' pre-arranged project reserves for the "New Year" lending phase in early 2026 [1] - However, retail credit to households remains weak, with expectations for a recovery in credit demand linked to macroeconomic improvements and supportive policies [1] 2026 Outlook - CITIC Securities anticipates that macroeconomic policies will continue to maintain an active fiscal stance and a relatively loose monetary policy [1] - Government bonds are expected to remain a key driver for the growth of social financing [1] - The forecast for the growth rate of RMB credit in 2026 is projected to be between 7% and 8% [1] - A substantial improvement in the banking sector's fundamentals is contingent upon a real recovery in credit demand from the real economy and further enhancements in macroeconomic expectations [1]