New bank loans in China fell more than expected to the lowest in 22 months in October, but the drop was likely due to seasonal factors and policymakers are still expected to ramp up support for the cooling economy in coming months.

Chinese regulators have been trying to boost bank lending and lower financing costs for over a year, especially for smaller and private companies which generate a sizeable share of the country's economic growth and jobs.

Chinese banks extended 661.3 billion yuan ($94.55 billion) in new yuan loans in October - the weakest since December 2017, data from the central bank showed, down sharply from September and falling short of analyst expectations. Analysts had predicted new yuan loans would fall to 800 billion yuan in October, down from 1.69 trillion yuan in September. Household loans, mostly mortgages, fell to 421 billion yuan in October from 755 billion yuan in September, while corporate loans dipped to 126.2 billion yuan from 1.01 trillion yuan.

Outstanding yuan loans grew 12.4% from a year earlier. Analysts had expected 12.5% growth, in line with September's 12.5%.