BEIJING -- China CITIC Bank, one of China's joint-stock commercial banks, reported faster loan issuance growth in the first half of the year (H1), the bank said Friday.

The bank issued loans worth 5.38 trillion yuan ($748.4 billion) by the end of June, up 4.41 percent from the end of 2022, data from the bank showed.

The growth rate of loan issuance in the first six months was higher than that of the same period in the past few years, according to the bank.

By the end of June, the balance of green loans exceeded 400 billion yuan, marking an increase of 19.93 percent over the end of last year.

During the period, the balance of inclusive loans topped 500 billion yuan, representing an increase of 13.88 percent over the end of 2022.