BEIJING, Nov 27 Reuters Top Chinese government departments led by the central bank said on Monday that measures needed to be stepped up to strengthen financial support for private companies, including unblocking and sustaining of funding channels.

State agencies have in recent months unveiled a flurry of initiatives to support private businesses after authorities vowed to make the sector bigger, better and stronger, in a bid to shore up an economic recovery.

Private firms, which account for 60 of China39;s gross domestic product and 80 of urban jobs, were hurt by three years of COVID curbs and a regulatory crackdown that targeted sectors from technology to private tutoring.

Efforts should be made to unblock financial channels such as loans, bonds and shares, said the People39;s Bank of China PBOC in a joint statement with seven other government departments and regulators.

Banking and financial institutions should set annual service targets for private enterprises, increase the weight of related businesses serving private enterprises in performance appraisal and gradually increase the proportion of loans to private enterprises, it said.

The tolerance for nonperforming loans of private companies should also be reasonably increased while offering more support for firsttime borrowers, according to the joint statement, which outlined 25 measures aimed at bolstering financial support for China39;s private economy.

Additionally, banks should meet the reasonable financing…