China steps up financial support for real economy: official

BEIJING -- China has beefed up financial support to further bolster the country's real economy this year, according to a report submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Friday.

The country's monetary policy has been further strengthened and improved in 2022, with the comprehensive financing cost of enterprises steadily reducing.

While keeping the total amount of financing reasonably adequate, the country's financial system has increased support for key areas, said the report.

By the end of September, the outstanding amount of medium and long-term loans for the manufacturing sector jumped 30.8 percent year on year to 8.75 trillion yuan (about 1.22 trillion U.S. dollars), while outstanding loans to small and medium-sized sci-tech enterprises reached 1.56 trillion yuan, up 26.3 percent from the previous year.

The country's inclusive finance has also expanded over the past nine months, with outstanding inclusive loans for small and micro businesses jumping 24.6 percent year on year to 23.2 trillion yuan, according to the report.

In the next step, financial institutions will focus more on economic transformation and upgrading and channel more funds to the advanced manufacturing sector and strategic emerging industries.

Meanwhile, efforts will be made to support the construction of infrastructure and the development of major projects by making full and good use of policy-based and developmental financial instruments, according to the report.