China's insurance premiums rose to 461.72 billion yuan ($70.98 billion) in the first quarter of the year, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said Thursday.

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Life insurance premiums stood at 321.04 billion yuan for the first three months of the year, while property insurance premiums grew to 113.29 billion yuan, up 13.9 percent year-on-year, the CIRC said at a press release concerning first quarter insurance market performance.

Insurance capital operation surpluses rose 6.6 percent to 5.02 trillion yuan from January to March, of which banking deposits accounted for 32.4 percent, or 1.63 trillion yuan, the CIRC said.

The industry's total assets rose 7 percent to 5.41 trillion yuan during the same period, it added.