BEIJING — China's banking and insurance regulator has asked the policy financial institutions in China to function as major force in the country's financial poverty alleviation.

The policy financial institutions should maintain continuity and stability of their financial policies in poverty reduction, said the China Banking and Insurance Regulator Commission (CBIRC).

Those financial institutions have actively advanced financial poverty alleviation work and achieved remarkable results, said the commission.

By the end of the second quarter of 2019, the outstanding loans for poverty alleviation of development banks and policy banks accounted for more than half of that in the whole banking sector, providing strong financial support for poverty relief, according to the CBIRC.

The CBIRC underscores that all policy financial institutions should improve their operational mechanism of poverty alleviation work, clarify the responsibilities of all levels, and ensure that all poverty alleviation policies implemented.

The policy financial institutions should focus on key poverty-stricken areas, raise effective measures, and improve the quality and efficiency in financial poverty alleviation, said the CBIRC.