The biggest state-run Chinese banks have increased their lending by 22 per cent to $1.3tn in the first nine months of the year, signalling how state groups are being directed to support the country’s economy battered by coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and a property market crisis.

In an announcement orchestrated to dovetail with President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech at the opening of the Chinese Communist party’s congress on Sunday, a group of the country’s six largest state banks released data showing Rmb9.53tn in new loans.

Most of the new cash has been directed towards Xi’s favoured industries including manufacturing, infrastructure and technology and innovation sectors. Four of the big banks also disclosed at least a 25 per cent boost in funding for “green loans”, or lending for clean energy projects, in the first three quarters.