China’s economy, the world’s second largest after that of the United States, is fueled to a considerable extent by lending from its state-controlled banking system. A relaxed stance on debt suggests leaders could be less inclined to take steps that would trim the debt load but also might hold back short-term economic growth.

Chinese officials in recent months have signaled a “subtle change of emphasis” toward tolerating an overall increase in debt as long as corporate debt stays under control, said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economist.

Alarm had grown in recent years as China as the country piled on debt. In relation to the size of its economy, China in a decade accumulated roughly as much debt as that held by the United States and many other developed economies. Earlier this year, the ratings firms Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s downgraded their credit ratings on Chinese sovereign debt, citing brisk corporate borrowing.

But China has taken steps to pare back lending. It has come down hard on a number of private companies that borrowed heavily to make splashy but pricey acquisitions overseas, even as politically connected state-owned enterprises continue borrowing heavily. China has also somewhat tightened quotas on bank lending while also taking steps to limit banks’ use of lightly regulated investment products to raise money.

The efforts seem to have slowed the rate at which debt is growing relative to the economy. Data from the Bank of International Settlements, a group of big central banks that is based in Basel, Switzerland, shows that China’s ratio of nonfinancial corporate debt to economic output fell slightly in the second quarter of this year, the most recent for which data is available.

Experts say China is more likely to tolerate growing debt if it comes more from the household sector, as has been the case lately. A rise in mortgages and other types of consumer lending has helped growth in household borrowing and spending. Chinese officials want more consumer spending to help balance out the country’s economy.

The clearest signal of Beijing’s waning interest in debt came in a statement on Dec. 8 from the Politburo, a top Communist Party leadership body. The Politburo said that the financial goal going forward was “effective control” of debt as opposed to outright debt reduction. In October, at the party’s twice-a-decade national congress, President Xi did not mention debt during his nearly three-and-a-half-hour work report and had only three passing mentions of leverage, which is essentially the same thing, without saying what he might do about it.