BEIJING — Chinese authorities have stressed the faithful implementation of various financial policies for poverty relief to coordinate efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and carry out targeted financial poverty alleviation.

All financial institutions should continue to carry out financial poverty alleviation work this year and focus on deeply impoverished areas and counties that are still stuck in poverty, said a national video teleconference held by the People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Financial institutions should make full use of policy tools such as refinancing for poverty relief, increase investment in financial resources and strive to achieve full coverage of basic financial services, it said.

More should be done to implement the support policies that have been issued, especially the temporary deferral of principal and interest on loans to small businesses and the extension of the repayment period for poverty alleviation microcredit, it said.