China Minsheng Bank had reported 1.5 trillion yuan (about 217 billion U.S. dollars) worth of outstanding loans to private businesses by the end of 2019, according to data from the bank, reports Xinhua. The figure was up by 70 billion yuan from the beginning of last year and accounted for nearly 70 percent of the bank's total loans to firms.
In 2019, the bank enriched its non-loan financial services to lower lending costs for private businesses, injecting over 160 billion yuan into the private sector through services including bond and interbank operations. The bank's loan issuance to small and micro businesses reached a total of 510 billion yuan last year.
Zheng Wanchun, president of the bank, said the lender will be committed to prioritizing credit support to private businesses and innovate products and services to address the firms' difficulties.