BEIJING, Feb. 3 -- China's green finance continued to see rapid growth last year with outstanding green loans in yuan and foreign currencies up 38.5 percent year on year to 22.03 trillion yuan (3.27 trillion U.S. dollars), a central bank report showed Friday.

The growth rate was 5.5 percentage points higher than a year ago and 28.1 percentage points faster than the average growth rate of all types of loans, said the report by the People's Bank of China.

A green loan refers to a form of financing where funds go to areas that make contributions to environmental protection and improvement.

China has advanced rapidly in developing its green financial system and markets, as part of efforts to achieve its carbon peaking and neutrality goals.

According to the report, green loans for projects with direct or indirect carbon-reduction benefits stood at 8.62 trillion yuan and 6.08 trillion yuan, respectively. Together, they accounted for 66.7 percent of the total green loans.

Outstanding green loans for infrastructure upgrading, clean energy and energy conservation expanded 32.8 percent, 34.9 percent and 59.1 percent year on year, respectively.

The report also showed slower growth in property loans and consumption loans. At the end of 2022, outstanding property loans increased 1.5 percent year on year to 53.16 trillion yuan, and outstanding residential consumption loans (excluding individual housing loans) expanded 4.1 percent to 17.25 trillion yuan.