New bank loans in China rose more than expected to a record high in January, as authorities step up support for an economy hit by trade tensions and facing a new threat from a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak. Chinese banks tend to front-load loans at the beginning of the year to get higher-quality customers and win market share. Banks extended a record 3.34 trillion yuan ($476.42 billion) in new yuan loans in January, up from 1.14 trillion yuan in December and exceeding analyst expectations, according to data released by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Thursday. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would rise to 3.00 trillion yuan in January, compared with the prior record 3.23 trillion […]