New bank loans in China likely fell in December but lending for all of 2019 still set a record, a Reuters poll showed, as the central bank eases policy to support the slowing economy.

Chinese banks are estimated to have issued 1.194 trillion yuan ($171.7 billion) in net new yuan loans last month, down from 1.39 trillion yuan in November, according to the median estimate in the survey of 31 economists.

If December data, due during the coming week, is in line with forecasts, total new lending in 2019 would hit 16.88 trillion yuan, up 4.3% from the previous record of 16.17 trillion yuan in 2018.