An employee counts yuan banknotes at a bank in Huaibei, Anhui province, June 22, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - China's large commercial banks have been asked to set up inclusive finance departments to support small companies, agriculture, poverty relief and entrepreneurship in 2017.

Large banks should become the backbone in the development of inclusive finance, according to a statement following a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

Their lending to small and micro enterprises should rise no slower than growth in all loans, the statement said.

Banks should tolerate a reasonably higher non-performing loan ratio for lending to small and micro enterprises, agricultural sectors and poverty alleviation, according to the statement.