BEIJING, Jan. 17 -- China's bank wealth management market expanded and saw more investors in 2024, industry data showed on Friday.

By the end of last year, the number of investors holding wealth management products in the banking market rose 9.88 percent year on year to 125 million, the China Banking Wealth Management Registration and Depository Center said in a report.

The balance of wealth management products stood at 29.95 trillion yuan (about 4.17 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2024 -- up 11.75 percent compared with the value at the beginning of last year, according to the report.

The center said 30,800 wealth management products were launched by a combination of 179 banking institutions and 31 wealth management companies in China's banking system last year, raising a total of 67.31 trillion yuan.

By the end of 2024, support for the real economy from bank wealth management products had stood at approximately 21 trillion yuan, the center added.