BEIJING — China's loans to rural areas, households and the agriculture sector recorded steady growth in the first half of the year (H1), a central bank report showed.

By the end of June, the country's outstanding agriculture-related loans in yuan and foreign currencies reached 47.1 trillion yuan ($6.98 trillion), up 13.1 percent from the previous year, according to the report released by the People's Bank of China.

The loans climbed by 4.07 trillion yuan in H1, which is 1.05 trillion yuan more than the same period last year, the report showed.

As of the end of June, the balance of loans for farmers rose 11.9 percent over a year earlier, while that for agriculture and rural areas (counties and below) went up 9.2 percent and 13 percent year-on-year, respectively.