LHASA -- A total of 240 billion yuan ($34.96 billion) in loans were issued across Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region in 2022, an increase of nearly 17 billion yuan compared to the previous year, authorities said Friday.

In 2022, relending worth over 1.6 billion yuan, up 14.24 percent, to financial institutions strongly supported their lending to small and micro-sized enterprises, rural revitalization projects and other key areas, said Li Yufu, vice president of the Lhasa branch of the People's Bank of China, China's central bank.

To support small and micro enterprises, Tibet has set up a financial services platform, through which 1,867 enterprises got loans worth nearly 7.1 billion yuan in 2022, Li added.