China's outstanding loans to the rural sector grew 11.9 percent year on year to 7.59 trillion yuan (US$1.11 trillion) in the first half, accounting for 20.8 percent of the country's total outstanding loans, said a report from the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, on Tuesday.

Small credit loans outstanding from rural households stood at 251.86 billion yuan, up 17.5 percent over the same time of last year, according to the report.

The government has been trying to channel lending to the countryside to boost rural development as the rural financial market has been regarded as underdeveloped.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee issued a document in October last year to call for the widening of financing channels to steer more credit to rural development.

The call also urged lenders to expand agriculture-supporting businesses and offer more policy-based financial aid for agricultural development.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2009)