The balance of domestic and foreign currency loans in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province surpassed 2.78 trillion yuan ($427.7 billion) as of the end of June, an increase of over 300 billion yuan year-on-year, official data from the Ningbo branch of People's Bank of China show.

The figure represents a yearly increase of 13.4 percent, 1.5 percent higher than the national average.

The local authorities have sustained efforts to make financial services more accessible for local small and micro-sized enterprises.

From January to June, a total of 9,793 businesses in the city applied for loans for the first time, with a combined value of nearly 50 billion yuan. Among them, about 90 percent were small and micro-sized enterprises.

As of the end of June, the loan balance for the city's private companies exceeded 1 trillion yuan, rising 17.9 percent.

In addition, the city saw robust growth in inclusive small and micro loans.

The balance of inclusive small and micro loans expanded by 45.2 percent year-on-year to more than 330 billion yuan, with the growth rate being the highest in Zhejiang.

In 2019, Ningbo was designated as a national pilot zone for the reform of inclusive finance.

In the first half of this year, the city's banking sector's total assets reached 383.38 billion yuan, up 8.81 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, non-performing loans decreased by 5.41 billion yuan year-on-year, and the non-performing loan ratio decreased by 1.27 percent year-on-year.