BEIJING — China saw an increase in the outstanding sum of loans to small and micro companies in the first three quarters of this year thanks to the government's support for inclusive finance.

By the end of Q3, the balance of loans issued by the country's banking and financial institutions to small and micro firms stood at 36.39 trillion yuan (about $5.2 trillion), according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC).

The outstanding loans to small and micro companies with a credit limit of 10 million yuan or less surged 20.81 percent from the beginning of the year to 11.31 trillion yuan, said the commission.

Meanwhile, the interest rates of such loans were generally stable and showed signs of declining, with that of newly-added loans in the first nine months standing at 6.75 percent, down 0.64 percentage point from the average level recorded last year.

With a non-performing loan ratio of 3.56 percent, the quality of the loans to small and micro firms was generally stable, it noted.