BEIJING, May 10 -- The outstanding loans extended by China's financial institutions came in at 251.8 trillion yuan (about 35.46 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of the first quarter, central bank data showed on Friday.

The figure represents a 9.2 percent year-on-year rise, according to a report from the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

"China's credit expansion has slowed from a double-digit growth rate to a single-digit rate, but this does not mean that financial support for the real economy has weakened," the report said.

China's credit structure has been improved. Outstanding loans extended to small and micro companies rose 20.3 percent year on year in the first quarter, while outstanding long-term loans extended to manufacturing industries jumped 26.5 percent year on year. Outstanding loans to the private sector, meanwhile, increased 10.7 percent.

"All of them outpaced overall loan growth," the report said.

In terms of financing costs, the weighted average interest rate of new corporate loans was 3.73 percent in March, 0.22 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

The PBOC will continue to deepen the market-oriented reform of interest rates to lower the financing costs of individuals and companies, said the report.