BEIJING - Chinese banks offered strong credit support for the growth of the green economy in 2015.

The total balance of green loans issued by China's 21 major financial institutions rose 16.42 percent last year to 7.01 trillion yuan, according to a report released on Friday by the China Banking Association.

It is estimated that the projects supported by these loans could have saved about 221 million tonnes of standard coal, 756 million tonnes of water, and reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide by 550 million tonnes and 4.85 million tonnes last year, the report said.

Meanwhile, Chinese banks strictly limited loans to highly polluting industries or those operating at overcapacity or consuming lots of energy, according to the report. Some banks issued no loans at all to these industries for two years in a row.

Green finance has become a major part of China's national strategy. It uses institutional and policy arrangements to encourage more investment in energy-saving and environmentally friendly projects via financial products and services such as loans, bonds, stocks, private equity, insurance and carbon emissions trading.