Regulator Issues Draft Rule to Prevent Misuse of Personal Loans
The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), yesterday issued a draft plan to step up rules on personal loans to prevent the misuse of money lent by the country's financial institutions. The CBRC ordered lenders not to give loans to individuals without knowing the purpose of the loan. The CBRC also said the regulations did not raise the threshold for people applying for funds. In the first nine months, Chinese banks lent 8.67 trillion yuan of new loans, far higher than the full year target of 5 trillion yuan after the government eased restrictions to back economic growth amid the global economic downturn.

Sinopec Incurs Losses in Oct due to Increase of Fuel Price
Asia's largest refiner Sinopec saw losses in October due to price increases on crude oil which haven't yet trickled down onto domestic fuel prices. An official who refuses to be named said that crude prices have seen rapid growth this month but the government made no changes to gasoline and diesel prices. China raised domestic prices of gasoline and diesel three times between January and June, but only once in the third quarter.

Aluminum Scales Peak
Aluminum prices in Shanghai jumped to their highest level in more than a year on signs of recovering demand in Asia, including China and Japan. China's imports of aluminum jumped to 1.4 million tons in the first nine months. A chief analyst from the Tokyo-based commodity broker Fujitomi Co. said yesterday that "Compared with other markets, such as equities and oil, raw metals looked strong because of the dollar's weakness. We've seen a continued influx of funds in the metals market."