China loan curbs, yuan surge and holiday spending in focus as Beijing juggles pressures

China's financial regulator has quietly told major banks to suspend new loans to five U.S.-sanctioned Iranian oil refiners, while the yuan surged to its strongest PBOC fixing since March 2023 amid easing Middle East tensions. Summary: China's National Financial Regulatory Administration verbally instructed the country's largest lenders to suspend new yuan-denominated loans to five refineries recently sanctioned by the U.S. for their ties to Iranian oil, though existing credit was not to be called in, according to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter; Reuters could not immediately verify the report The guidance, delivered before May 1, stands in direct contrast to a May 2 notice from China's Ministry of Commerce telling firms to disregard U.S. sanctions, marking the first use of China's blocking measures introduced in 2021 to protect firms from what Beijing considers unwarranted foreign intervention, per Reuters reporting Among the firms under review is Hengli Petrochemical, China's largest private refiner, which was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in April over allegations it purchased billions of dollars in Iranian crude, according to the same reporting Chinese consumer spending during the Labor Day holiday rose 14.3% year-on-year, slightly ahead of the Lunar New Year increase, though economists at Societe Generale and Pantheon Macroeconomics cautioned the boost was likely temporary given a soft labour market, elevated youth unemployment and ongoing property sector weakness, per preliminary data The People's Bank of China set its yuan fixing at 6.8487 per dollar on Thursday, the strongest level since March 2023, with the currency gaining in both onshore and offshore trade, according to CFETS data MUFG analyst Lloyd Chan attributed Asian currency strength to reduced appetite for further Middle East escalation, adding that an Iranian acceptance of a U.S.-backed deal and gradual Strait of Hormuz reopening could extend gains across Asia FX, per MUFG commentary China is navigating a delicate balancing act on multiple fronts, with its financial regulator quietly restricting loans to Iran-linked refiners even as Beijing publicly tells firms to ignore U.S. sanctions, while the yuan climbed to its strongest central bank fixing in over two years and holiday consumer data offered a cautiously positive but ultimately inconclusive read on the domestic recovery. The most consequential development for energy markets was the reported guidance from the National Financial Regulatory Administration, which verbally instructed China's largest lenders to suspend new yuan-denominated loans to five refineries recently hit by U.S. sanctions over their handling of Iranian crude. Existing credit lines were to remain in place, but no new lending was to be extended while banks reviewed their exposure. Hengli Petrochemical, China's largest private refiner and one of the firms named in U.S. Treasury sanctions imposed in April, was specifically identified as being under review. The directive sits in uncomfortable tension with a notice issued by China's Ministry of Commerce on May 2, which instructed Chinese firms to disregard U.S. sanctions. That notice represented Beijing's first deployment of blocking measures introduced in 2021 to shield domestic companies from what China characterises as illegitimate foreign interference. The simultaneous existence of a public defiance posture and a private compliance instruction reflects the degree to which Chinese financial institutions remain exposed to the threat of secondary sanctions, a risk that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had already put on notice last month when he warned two unnamed Chinese banks that processing Iranian transactions would trigger consequences. For Iranian crude flows, the lending curbs represent a meaningful new obstacle. Sanctioned refiners have already encountered difficulties securing crude deliveries and have reportedly resorted to selling refined products under alter