BEIJING — China saw faster growth in loans issued to small and micro companies amid government efforts to encourage inclusive financing, official data showed.

Outstanding loans to small firms or individually-owned businesses with a credit line of 5 million yuan (about $707,000) or less totaled 8 trillion yuan by the end of last year, surging 18 percent year-on-year, 8.2 percentage points faster than the end of the 2017, according to a report from the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

Newly added loans to these firms totaled 1.22 trillion yuan last year, 614.3 billion yuan more than the amount added in 2017, the report said.

Secured loans to support entrepreneurship went up 22.5 percent year-on-year to reach 106.4 billion yuan by the end of 2018, the report showed.

The rise came amid ongoing government efforts to boost lending to the country's cash-strained small and micro companies, with a range of targeted policies rolled out to channel funds into these firms.