New yuan loans in the Yangtze River Delta region stood at 342.5 billion yuan (53.02 billion U.S. dollars) in August, 68.9 billion yuan less than the same period last year.

The balance of loans in the region stood at 48.39 trillion yuan at the end of August, up 14.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office.

The balance of loans in Chinese yuan reached 47.14 trillion yuan at the end of August, up 14.2 percent year on year. The growth rate was 0.3 percentage points lower than that of the previous month.

The balance of foreign currency loans hit 193.8 billion U.S. dollars at the end of August, up 16.3 percent year on year.

The balance of the region's deposits stood at 59.34 trillion yuan at the end of August, up 10.4 percent year on year.

Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui are under the ambit of the Yangtze River Delta region.