BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), one of the country's largest commercial lenders, saw its total loans reach 23.9 trillion yuan (about 3.36 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of March, as the bank enhanced financial support for major projects, key areas and weak links of the Chinese economy. The figure rose by 1.2 trillion yuan, or 5.5 percent from the end of 2023, according to the first-quarter financial report of the bank. As of the end of March, the lender's outstanding loans extended to the manufacturing sector exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan, increasing by 373.7 billion yuan from the end of last year. The balance of loans to support emerging strategic industries grew by more than 600 billion yuan to 2.7 trillion yuan, while the outstanding loans for green and low-carbon areas increased by 18.9 percent to 4.8 trillion yuan. In the first quarter, ABC continued its loan support for China's agricultural sector, with the balance of the bank's agriculture-related loans standing at 7.2 trillion yuan at the end of March, accounting for 30.8 percent of the total value of its domestic loans.  

（Editor:Liao Yifan）