BEIJING — The balance of China's inclusive loans to small and micro businesses stood at 20.8 trillion yuan ($3.1 trillion) at the end of March, up 24.6 percent from the same period last year, the central bank said.

The figure is 2.5 times that at the beginning of 2018, said a report released by the People's Bank of China.

The loans provided support to 50.39 million small and micro businesses at the end of March, 2.2 times that at the end of 2018.

In March, the interest rate of new loans to small and micro businesses stood at 4.93 percent, 17 basis points lower than that in December last year.

To cope with the COVID-19 impact, the central bank, along with other authorities, in February issued a guideline to boost support for businesses in the service industry, especially sectors of catering, retail, tourism, transportation and civil aviation, the report said.