BEIJING — The inclusive loans received by China's small and micro firms in the first six months grew 28.4 percent year-on-year, official data showed.

The average interest rate of new inclusive loans to small and micro businesses was 5.94 percent, down 0.76 percentage points from the average interest rate for the whole year in 2019, said an online statement by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

As of June 30, outstanding nonperforming inclusive small and micro loans totaled 400 billion yuan (about $58 billion), up 9.25 percent from the beginning of the year, and the nonperforming ratio for such loans was 2.99 percent, 0.88 percentage points higher than the overall nonperforming loan ratio.

With the help of reforms and opening-up and science and technology, inclusive loans have grown more targeted with improving service efficiency and risk control, said the statement.

China has rolled out a set of measures to help small and micro businesses overcome difficulties caused by COVID-19, including encouraging financial institutions to provisionally defer loan repayments and increasing lending at concessional rates.