File photo: China Daily

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% year on year to 364.62 trillion yuan (about US$57.1 trillion) by the end of Q1, while their combined liabilities rose 9.6% 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% rise in total assets, while companies in the securities industry saw their combined assets jump 22.1% year on year by the end of Q1.

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