The balance of domestic and foreign currency loans in Ningbo increased by 304.15 billion yuan ($46.79 billion) to about 2.849 trillion yuan from January to September.

The amount represents a yearly increase of 13.4 percent, according to official data from the Ningbo branch of the People's Bank of China.

The city in East China's Zhejiang province has sustained efforts to make financial services more accessible for the real economy.

So far this year, over 80 percent of the city's loans have been offered to local private enterprises. As of the end of September, the loan balance for the city's private companies had exceeded 1 trillion yuan, a rise of 16.9 percent year-on-year.

In addition, Ningbo saw robust growth in inclusive small and micro loans.

The balance of inclusive small and micro loans expanded by 40 percent year-on-year to more than 350 billion yuan by the end of September, with the growth rate being the highest in Zhejiang for four months in a row. The increase during the nine-month period, which stood at 80 billion yuan, was even larger than what was registered for the whole of last year.

The city's loan balance for the manufacturing sector also rose by 74.3 billion yuan to over 500 billion yuan as of September.