What we have seen is all kinds of customers - Chinese, Thai and multinationals doing business in China - slowing down their activities, resulting in reduced loan demand," he said.
The decline in loan demand is due to the slower growth in manufacturing and retail sales in China, he said, referring to the country's National Bureau of Statistics last week reporting retail sales in the first quarter having grown by 10.6 per cent year on year, while the manufacturing sector expanded by less than 10 per cent.