BEIJING - Micro-credit companies in China issued 2.2 billion yuan ($359.5 million) in new loans in the first quarter of 2015, official figures showed on Thursday.

The number of micro-credit companies increased to 8,922, with their outstanding loans totalling 945.4 billion yuan by the end of March this year, the People's Bank of China, said in an online statement.

The central bank report showed that east China's Jiangsu province had 633 small-credit companies by March, the most of any provincial-level region, followed by northeast China's Liaoning province and north China's Hebei province.

Micro-lenders largely target small companies and low-income groups in need of capital. Micro-finance has become an important channel for private capital to enter the financial market.

Micro-credit companies were given the green light in 2005, increasing in number from 500 in 2008 to over 8500 by the end of 2014.