BEIJING - China continued to see fewer micro-credit firms last year amid tightening regulations on malpractice in the sector, official data showed Thursday.

The country had 8,551 micro-credit firms as of the end of last year, compared with 8,673 in 2016, according to the central bank.

The number of micro-credit firms dropped by 237 in 2016 compared with 2015.

However, outstanding loans grew by 50.4 billion yuan ($7.88 billion) to reach 979.9 billion yuan last year.

Southwest China's Chongqing municipality boasted the largest share of outstanding micro-loans, followed by Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces.

Regulations on micro-credit service, especially online micro-credit platforms targeting ordinary consumers, tightened in 2017 after fraudulent cases and cases involving violence emerged.

Chinese regulators suspended approval of new online micro-credit firms last November and banned them from conducting cross-regional business.