"We have required banks to stay highly alert over possible credit risks," Liu told a financial forum in Hong Kong.
Liu admitted that lending growth in the first 10 days of January was too fast but "the trend is expected to ease soon as demand is being satisfied."
Chinese banks granted a record total of CNY9.59 trillion in new loans last year under Beijing's "appropriately loose" monetary policy.
Liu said that Chinese banks have set aside some CNY1 trillion as bad loan provision and are capable of handling any possible losses.
Several banking sources have told Market News International that some Chinese banks, including big ones such as Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, stopped extending new loans from Tuesday until the end of the month, under pressure from the government. New lending total around CNY1.5 trillion in the first two weeks of the month, on a pace to shatter the previous monthly record of CNY1.89 trillion set in March last year, sources said.
