BEIJING, May 13 -- China's central bank has urged the country's commercial banks to be quicker in approving and issuing loans to home buyers.

The statement was made by Liu Shiyu, vice governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), when speaking to heads of 15 commercial banks in a meeting about housing financial services on Monday, according to a statement on the official website of the central bank Tuesday.

Liu urged the banks to "properly allocate credit resources and prioritize credit demand of first-time home buyers."