HONG KONG- China will help improve access to credit for small- and medium-sized firms as well as private companies hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the state council's financial stability committee said after a meeting chaired by Vice Premier Liu He.

Authorities will also crack down on fraud and forgery in capital markets while loosening and cancelling controls deemed counter to development needs, said a statement published on Wednesday.

"We must continue to effectively control the outbreak of the virus and to stabilise economic development," the statement said.

(Reporting by Meg Shen in Hong Kong and Colin Qian in Beijing Editing by David Holmes) ((meg.shen@thomsonreuters.com; 852-28436901; Reuters Messaging: meg.shen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))