BEIJING, Jan. 24 -- The People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank, will set up a credit market department in the coming year, focused on supporting the "five priorities" of technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance, the bank's governor said on Wednesday.

Pan Gongsheng said the bank will further leverage the dual functions of monetary policy tools in both quantity and structure, and strengthen tool innovation to encourage financial institutions to focus on the five priorities.

In 2023, the central bank encouraged financial institutions to increase credit support for key areas and weak links, he said.

The growth rates of green loans, inclusive loans to small enterprises, loans to technology-based small businesses, and medium and long-term loans to the manufacturing sector were much higher than the average growth rate of all lending in 2023, he said.