BEIJING - China's micro-finance companies witnessed a boom last year as the government encouraged their development to support small and micro-enterprises, with the total number reaching 4,144 by the end of November 2011.

The number has almost doubled in the past year, according to Liu Kegu, president of the China Micro-finance Institution Association (CMIA).

Chinese micro-finance companies extended 171.3 billion yuan ($26.97 billion) of new loans in the first 11 months of last year, while profits rose 16.96 percent year on year to 23 billion yuan, said Liu at CMIA's annual meeting held Monday.

Outstanding loans of China's micro-lenders stood at 369.4 billion yuan by the end of November 2011, up 11.2 percent year-on-year, he said.

China's new yuan-denominated lending in 2011 reached 7.47 trillion yuan, down from 7.95 trillion yuan in 2010, according to figures from the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank.

The PBOC said earlier this month that it will further optimize credit structure and better serve the development of the real economy, with more emphasis on small and micro-enterprises.