China's banking and insurance regulator urged banks to continue increasing lending to smaller firms and further cut their financing costs, as policymakers work to avert an economic slowdown.

Banks should work hard to achieve targets on increasing loans for small companies and keep the lending rates on a reasonable level, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said.

Big state-owned commercial banks should increase outstanding loans to smaller companies by more than 30% in 2019, the CBIRC said, adding that it would also increase its tolerance for non-performing loans at small companies.

The regulator reiterated its demands for state-owned banks to target faster growth in loans to small businesses as economic growth slowed to its weakest in nearly three decades in 2018.