Chinese banks lent more in 2015

Its monthly GDP tracker held steady from the middle of 2015 and ticked up in November, and Bloomberg said its early evidence on the economy in December also pointed to steady growth.

"More credit flowing into the economy adds to optimism that growth will remain resilient into early 2016," according to the report.

With growth steady but weak, the government will keep its policies supportive, Bloomberg economists believe, forecasting two more interest rate cuts in the first half as the PBOC works to lower financing costs and bolster loan demand.

Positive credit data in December is "not necessarily indicative of a trend" as there are seasonal effects at work, "with December credit growth typically strong -- perhaps reflecting banks using up their loan quotas for the year," said Bloomberg.