BEIJING — The China Development Bank has increased loan support for small and micro-businesses, with outstanding funds nearing 188 billion yuan (about $28.93 billion) under a targeted program by the end of July.

Under the loan model, the policy bank provides funds to small and medium-sized banks, which then grant the loans to small and micro-businesses as well as the self-employed to reduce their financing burdens.

Since the beginning of the year, the policy bank has offered a total of 146 billion yuan in loans to small and micro-businesses and the self-employed in the manufacturing, wholesale and retail, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery sectors, among others.

China has rolled out a slew of measures to reduce financing costs for small and micro-companies. Outstanding inclusive finance loans to small businesses climbed by 30.3 percent year-on-year by the end of 2020, up to 15.1 trillion yuan, central bank data shows.