BEIJING - More trust funds were channeled into the real economy last year as China moved to strengthen financial support for money-starved small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

At the end of 2018, the outstanding pecuniary trusts totaled 18.95 trillion yuan ($2.82 trillion), nearly 30 percent of which, around 5.67 trillion yuan of trust funds, flowed into industrial and commercial enterprises, the China Trustee Association (CTA) said Wednesday.

The CTA said the manufacturing sector was a major destination for trust funds as it saw more than 570 billion yuan of inflow, up 1.29 percent year-on-year or up 2.85 percent from the previous quarter.

Trust companies have more vigorously directed funds into businesses and infrastructure projects since the third quarter of 2018, an industrial insider said.

The sector has reached a consensus on serving the real economy, said Yin Xingmin, a researcher with Fudan University.

Given continued downward pressure, China has launched various measures to finance the real economy and help small firms weather out economic hardship.

Efforts have been taken to ensure ample liquidity on the monetary market, encourage bank loans to SMEs and foster direct financing, such as IPOs.