China's financial institutions register rising total assets in Q1

BEIJING - The total assets of Chinese financial institutions stood at 332.94 trillion yuan (about $46.92 trillion) by the end of the first quarter (Q1), up 9.8 percent year on year, according to the central bank.

The banking sector's assets totaled 302.39 trillion yuan as of Q1, increasing by 9.5 percent from the same period in the previous year, data from the People's Bank of China showed.

Assets in securities institutions soared by 13.5 percent to 8.83 trillion yuan year on year.

The insurance sector saw its total assets reach 21.72 trillion yuan, surging 13.7 percent from one year earlier.

Meanwhile, total debts in the financial sector saw a year-on-year increase of 9.5 percent to 302.59 trillion yuan. Debts in the banking sector went up 9.1 percent year on year to stand at 276.91 trillion yuan.

By the end of Q1, debts in the securities and insurance sectors registered 6.46 trillion yuan and 19.22 trillion yuan, respectively.