China banking sector onshore assets up 14.5%

BEIJING - Chinese banks held 212.7 trillion yuan ($32.2 trillion) in onshore assets by the end of July, according to data released by the China Banking Regulatory Commission on Thursday.

The volume was up 14.5 percent year on year, the banking regulator said.

The combined onshore assets of China's "big five" lenders -- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications -- came in at 77.9 trillion yuan by the end of last month, accounting for 36.6 percent of the total assets in the industry.

By July, the lenders' onshore liabilities rose 14.4 percent to reach 196 trillion yuan, the data showed.

Due to a cooling economy, China's banks have seen profit growth slow in recent years.

Earlier official data showed the net profits of commercial lenders reached 899.1 billion yuan during the first half of the year, up 3.17 percent year on year.