BEIJING -- China's small and micro firms received more inclusive loans in 2020 as the country stepped up measures to help them through the epidemic, official data shows.

By the end of last year, outstanding inclusive loans to small and micro firms had topped 15 trillion yuan (about $2.32 trillion), up more than 30 percent from a year ago, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC).

By the end of November, balances of credit loans and roll-over loans increased respectively by 31.34 percent and 50.33 percent from the beginning of 2020, and the balance of mid and long-term loans rose 11.79 percent compared with the level at end of last January.

China has rolled out a set of measures to help small and micro businesses overcome difficulties caused by COVID-19, including encouraging financial institutions to provisionally defer loan repayments and increasing lending at concessional rates.

The interest rate of new inclusive loans to small and micro businesses was 5.88 percent in the first 11 months of 2020, down 0.82 percentage points from the 2019 whole-year level.

The CBIRC said it will continue to strengthen financial services for small and micro firms to boost the quality and efficiency of lending, maintain steady growth in the total credit amount, improve the credit structure, and maintain borrowing costs at a reasonable level.