Growth in bank loans to heavily polluting and energy-consuming sectors saw a decrease in the first five months as banks responded to a government policy of reducing waste and enhancing environmental protection, the banking regulator said on Friday.

By the end of May, major Chinese banks had 1.5 trillion yuan of outstanding medium- to long-term loans to such industries as coking, chemicals, steel, non-ferrous metals and power, up 21.8 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was 9 percentage points lower than the same period of last year, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said.

From January to May, banks lent 104 billion yuan to these polluting and energy-intensive sectors, 52.7 billion yuan less than that in the same period of last year.