State Council tells lenders to improve range of services

China's State Council has asked the country's big commercial banks to set up "inclusive finance" departments by the end of the year to offer small businesses and low-income households financial services at affordable costs.

The banks should tolerate "a reasonably higher nonperforming loan ratio" for lending to small and micro companies, agriculture and poverty alleviation projects, according to a statement following a State Council meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

Banks' lending to small and micro companies should match the overall loan growth, while the number of small and micro borrowers should not be lower than that of the same period of the previous year, the statement said.