BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China saw a surge in the outstanding sum of loans to small and micro companies in the first half of this year thanks to the government's support for inclusive finance.

By the end of the second quarter, the balance of loans issued by the country's banking and financial institutions to small and micro enterprises stood at 35.63 trillion yuan (about 5 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The outstanding loans to small and micro companies with credit limit of 10 million yuan or less surged 26.6 percent to 10.7 trillion yuan, the commission said.

China has been stepping up financial and fiscal support for the country's small companies this year, with targeted reserve requirement ratio cuts as well as tax and fee reduction to boost vitality of the small market players.