BEIJING, March 6 -- The outstanding loans extended to small and micro businesses in China rose by 3.08 trillion yuan (500 billion U.S. dollars) from the start of 2014 to hit 20.7 trillion yuan by the year end, China Banking Regulatory Commission said on Friday.

The loans to small and micro businesses accounted for 23.85 percent of the country's total loans, according to the statement, adding that the growth rate of such loans exceeded the average rate of all loans nationwide by 4.2 percentage points.

The loans were shared among 11.446 million small and micro firms, up 9 percent from the same period in 2013.