FILE PHOTO: Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in this picture illustration taken in Beijing July 11, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s banking and insurance regulator’s vice chairman, Huang Hong, said that the country’s banking sector has disposed of 1.4 trillion yuan ($197.97 billion) of non-performing loans from January to September.

Outstanding loans made to small firms by China’s five largest lenders stood at 2.52 trillion yuan by the end of September, up 47.9% from the figure at end-2018, according to Zhu Shumin, another vice chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC).

The CBIRC was also studying plans to shift peer-to-peer lenders and online lending platforms into micro lenders, according to Zhu.