Chinese enterprises in the private sector saw robust growth in the amount of debt financing instruments issued by them in March, amid efforts to tide over the COVID-19 strains.

The amount surged 75 percent year on year to 64.1 billion yuan (about 9.05 billion U.S. dollars) last month, data from the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) showed.

The net financing of private enterprises hit 20 billion yuan, according to the NAFMII.

In March, a total of 144 anti-coronavirus bonds were issued via debt financing instruments, worth 93.4 billion yuan. About 27 percent of bonds issued by private enterprises were for epidemic prevention and control, 10 percentage points higher than the market average.

Some investors believe that the issuance of anti-coronavirus bonds can ease the financing strains for private enterprises and reduce their credit risks, while shoring up market confidence, said the NAFMII.