The growth in broad credit in China has begun to decelerate and it is expected that new lending this year may fall below that of last year for the first time since 2008, piling more pressure on the economy, Fitch Rating said yesterday.

"The broad credit growth began to moderate in the second half of 2011 and this slowdown has accelerated in 2012," Charlene Chu, head of Chinese banks' ratings at Fitch, said in a report yesterday. "The weakening demand for credit has been weighing on bank lending."

The rating agency said the slowdown in credit is in tandem with a slower growth in the country's economy.

"The Chinese economy has become increasingly reliant on abundant, cheap financing to propel GDP growth," Chu said. "By the same token, it will be difficult to see a significant turnaround in economic growth if a rebound in credit is absent."

The China Securities Journal reported yesterday a moderate rise in new lending last month. The big four lenders - the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, the Bank of China, and the Agricultural Bank of China - lent 253 billion yuan in combined new credit in May. The estimated total lending of 700 billion yuan by all financial institutions was up slightly from the 682 billion yuan in April, the newspaper said.