BEIJING - China Construction Bank, one of the country's largest State-owned commercial banks, saw its new loans reach 1.58 trillion yuan ($229 billion) in the first half (H1) of this year.

The bank strengthened financial support for key areas and weak links of the Chinese economy during the first six months, with new loans mainly channeled into infrastructure, wholesale, retail and manufacturing sectors, according to its semi-annual report.

By the end of June, outstanding loans to facilitate infrastructure construction stood at 5.47 trillion yuan, up 8.02 percent from the end of 2021.

The balance of medium and long-term loans for the manufacturing sector jumped 24.44 percent from end-2021 to 835.93 billion yuan, while the outstanding loans to strategic emerging industries came in at 1.17 trillion yuan, an increase of 26.66 percent, according to the report.

The bank has seen an improvement in its asset quality, the report noted. By the end of June, the bank's non-performing loan ratio fell 0.02 percentage points from that at the end of 2021 to stand at 1.4 percent.