BEIJING -- Loans granted to private businesses in China saw growth in 2021 as the country has been improving financial services for them.

As of the end of last year, outstanding loans to private firms stood at 52.7 trillion yuan ($8.27 trillion), increasing by 5.5 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year, data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission showed.

The figure represented year-on-year growth of 11.5 percent, the commission said.

The commission added it will continue to urge banking and insurance institutions to bolster financial services, with measures to extend credit to private firms in a fair, precise and effective manner, and diversify products to meet their financing needs.

China's private firms have shown significant momentum in the past decade amid a nurturing policy environment, increasing from 10.86 million entities in 2012 to 44.58 million in 2021 to account for 92.1 percent of enterprises nationwide.