BEIJING — The Chinese banking industry's new yuan-denominated loans hit 14.4 trillion yuan (about $2.11 trillion) in the first eight months of the year, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The new loans, an increase of 2.4 trillion yuan from that in the same period last year, were mainly invested in key areas such as manufacturing, infrastructure and technological innovation.

From January to August, the sector's newly added provisions stood at 1.4 trillion yuan, the commission said.

The provision coverage ratio, the ratio of provisioning to gross nonperforming assets which indicates the extent of funds a bank has kept aside to cover loan losses, stood at 176.5 percent, pointing to a strong capability to hedge against credit risks.