BEIJING -- New yuan loans in the Yangtze River Delta region stood at 2.83 trillion yuan ($428.14 billion) in the first three months, an increase of 349.5 billion yuan from the same period last year.

The balance of loans in the region stood at 53 trillion yuan at the end of March, up 14.6 percent from the same period last year, according to the People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office.

The balance of loans in Chinese yuan reached 51.67 trillion yuan at the end of March, up 14.6 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than that of the previous month.

The balance of foreign currency loans hit $210.7 billion at the end of March, up 19.1 percent year-on-year.

The balance of the region's deposits stood at 64.32 trillion yuan at the end of March, up 11.3 percent year-on-year.

Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui are under the ambit of the Yangtze River Delta region.