The number of consumer finance companies in China rose to 30 by the end of 2021, with their outstanding loans reaching 710.6 billion yuan (about 100.1 billion U.S. dollars), up 44.2 percent year on year, according to a report.

Total assets owned by consumer finance companies surged to 753 billion yuan at the end of last year, up 43.5 percent from a year ago, said the report issued by the China Banking Association.

Consumer finance companies shouldered their social responsibilities by allowing customers affected by the COVID-19 epidemic to delay debt repayments and lowering or waiving interests on loans.

According to incomplete statistics, consumer finance companies handled deferred repayment of nearly 3.6 billion yuan for 56,000 customers last year, according to the report.