China reports growth in loans to small firms

BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhua) -- China had issued more inclusive loans to small and micro firms by the end of May, official data showed on Wednesday.

Outstanding inclusive loans to small and micro businesses had totaled 17.07 trillion yuan (about 2.63 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of May, up by 30.53 percent year on year, Zhang Zhongning, a spokesperson for the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, told a press conference.

These loans had supported about 28.63 million enterprises, 5.71 million more than a year earlier.

In the first five months of this year, the interest rate of newly issued inclusive loans to small and micro enterprises averaged at 5.68 percent, down by 0.2 percentage points from 2020, Zhang said. Enditem