China's financial institutions lent more money to small and micro companies in the first half of 2014 as the country promised small businesses better financial services.
The People's Bank of China said in a semiannual report that the outstanding loans to small and micro enterprises stood at 14.17 trillion yuan (2.3 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of June, up 15.7 percent year on year.
The growth in loans to small businesses was faster than to medium-sized and large companies from January to June, according to the report.
The loan increase came after Chinese leaders asked financial institutions to help quench capital thirst for small businesses in hope of nurturing them to boost growth during the current economic slowdown.