China Lending Data May Be Overstated, Credit Suisse Says

China’s record funding expansion this year may be overstated in part because of double-counting, say Credit Suisse Group AG and Bank of America Corp. analysts trying to reconcile the data with weaker economic growth.

Some Chinese companies may use loans to buy wealth management products that are recorded a second time in another category, Vincent Chan, a Credit Suisse analyst in Hong Kong, wrote in a June 5 report, citing people he didn’t identify at the central bank and banking regulator. Bank of America estimates that double-counting explains 2.7 percentage points of a 12-point gap between first-quarter growth in outstanding credit and nominal gross domestic product.