BEIJING (AFP) -- China's broad M2 measure of money supply saw slightly slowing growth in January, the central bank said in a statement.

M2, which covers cash in circulation plus all deposits, was up 15.9 percent year-on-year at the end of January, below a 16.9 percent rise registered at the end of December, according to the central bank.

The more narrow M1 measures, covering cash in circulation and corporate demand deposits, was up 20.2 percent against a rise of 17.5 percent at end-December, the bank said.

"The growth of M2 slowed in January, with narrower M1 money supply growing at a relatively fast pace," it said.

It noted that the variation in growth rates of the two money supply measures was largely due to the relatively late Chinese New Year holiday this year, but did not elaborate.

The holiday, which typically tends to distort economic activity, begins on February 18 this year as opposed to January last year.