Spectacular increase in new yuan loans

The rare divergence of two key lending measures in July underscored unprecedented efforts to stabilize China's stock market turbulence, and the tepid level of credit support to the real economy, according to analysts.

The spectacular hike in new yuan loans announced by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, to both the real economy and non-bank financing institutions such as brokerages, took the market by surprise, coming in at 1.48 trillion yuan ($238 billion) for July, a 14.4 percent rise over a year earlier.

Another gauge of lending, total social financing, failed to mirror the new yuan lending.