The People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said major banks should ensure an appropriate pace of credit issuance and further optimise credit structure, the regulators said in a joint statement.

Chinese leaders have pledged to focus on stabilising the economy in 2023, stepping up policy adjustments to cushion the impact from a surge in COVID-19 infections at a time when a weakening global economy is hurting exports.

"We need to offer financial service support to key areas such as infrastructure investment, small and micro enterprises, tech and innovation, manufacturing and green development," the regulators said.

The regulators will also take measures to improve operations and cash flow of high-quality property enterprises with certain systemic importance.

They will guide balance sheets of high-quality real estate enterprises back to a safe range, according to the statement.

(Reporting by Ziyi Tang, Ryan Woo and Beijing Newsroom, editing by Ed Osmond)