China's financial institutions' assets up 9.5% in Q1

BEIJING - China's financial institutions saw expanded balance sheets in the first quarter of this year, official data showed.

The country's financial institutions saw their combined assets increase 9.5 percent year-on-year to 364.62 trillion yuan (about $57.1 trillion) by the end of Q1, while their combined liabilities rose 9.6 percent from a year earlier to 331.6 trillion yuan, data from the People's Bank of China showed.

Banking institutions, accounting for the lion's share of the financial industry, reported a 9 percent rise in total assets, while companies in the securities industry saw their combined assets jump 22.1 percent year-on-year by the end of Q1.

The country's insurers reported combined assets of 24.26 trillion yuan, up 11.7 percent year-on-year, the central bank data showed.