BEIJING - China's small-loan business kept expanding rapidly in the first quarter, with the number of small-loan companies increasing to 3,027 by the end of March this year, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC) Thursday.

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The latest figure was compared to 2,614 at the end of 2010 and about 500 in 2008, indicating more private funds are likely to enter the financial market through the small-loan business.

Small-loan companies issued 42.7 billion yuan ($6.55 billion) in new loans in the first quarter, bringing the total outstanding small loans to 240.8 billion yuan, said a statement on PBOC's website.

Small-loans companies employed 32,097 staff nationwide by the end of March this year, according to PBOC statistics.

The Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Liaoning province and Jiangsu province ranked as the top three in the number of small-loan companies, having 322, 236, and 229 companies, respectively.

Small-loan or micro-lending companies have become an important component and supplementary power of China's credit market. They have also provide important channels for private capital to enter the financial market.