Breaking News-RTRS-China banks to slow lending with low targets -media

BEIJING, July 29 (Reuters) - China's two biggest state-owned commercial banks have put a lid on their 2009 lending targets, according to domestic media reports, in a move that will significantly slow overall Chinese credit growth in the second half.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) <1398.HK> is aiming to issue full-year new loans of 1 trillion yuan ($146.4 billion), while China Construction Bank (CCB) <0939.HK> has set a goal of 900 billion yuan, Caijing magazine reported.
The two banks, China's largest by market value, granted new loans of 825.5 billion yuan and 709 billion yuan, respectively, in the first half.
If they stick to their reported targets, this would imply that ICBC <601398.SS> would have already issued 83 percent of its full-year lending total, while CCB <601939.SS> would have already issued 79 percent.
Overall, Chinese banks issued a record 7.37 trillion yuan in new loans in the first six months, easily topping the full-year figure of 4.91 trillion yuan in 2008 and igniting concern that excess liquidity was leading to stock and property bubbles.
Chinese regulators have left banks largely unhindered in their rampant lending in the belief that the economy needs ample money to recover, but in recent weeks they have warned of mounting credit risks to the banks themselves and demanded that loans be put to use for productive purposes.