China's top four state banks extended 30 billion yuan ($4.76 billion) in new local currency loans in the first 12 days of February, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified authoritative source.

The big four banks typically account for 30-40 percent of all new loans in banking sector.

Chinese banks made 738.1 billion yuan in new loans in January, with the top four state banks lending 320 billion yuan during the same period.

The central bank said in its fourth quarter monetary policy report that it expects the broad measure of M2 money supply to grow 14 percent this year, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

The newspaper also quoted the source as saying that lending growth may pick up for the rest of this month, with banks able to extend more credit as deposits rebound in the wake of the traditionally heavy drawdown ahead of China's Lunar New Year holiday season.

The big four lenders are Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China.