SHANGHAI - China has banned banks in its ground-breaking free trade zones from certain lending...: SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has banned banks in its ground-breaking free trade zones from certain lending activities to ease pressure on the yuan currency in offshore markets, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. The move comes as nervous global financial markets wait to see how much further China will allow the yuan to fall, after it weakened against the dollar for nine straight weeks, reviving memories of its jolting devaluation in 2015.