Chinese banks plan to increase loans to technology and innovation-oriented firms in response to Beijing's pledge to adopt artificial intelligence throughout the economy and dominate emerging sectors. A major state-owned bank official said that tech financing had been made a priority for new loan issuance this year and the lender is increasing funding to sectors such as advanced manufacturing, AI and biotechnology. The bank is also considering introducing new credit options with lower interest rates for small- and micro-sized tech startups. However, analysts warned that the nascent nature of the targeted companies and lack of proper collateral could pose asset-quality risks. Outstanding loans to small and medium-sized technology firms reached 3.63 trillion yuan ($528 billion) at the end of 2025, up 19.8% from the previous year and outpacing overall loan growth by 13.6 percentage points.