BEIJING — Chinese banks saw steady expansion in assets in the first half of the year, data from the country's top banking and insurance regulator showed.

Local and foreign currency assets of the country's banking and financial institutions totaled 336 trillion yuan (about $51.85 trillion) at the end of June, up 8.6 percent year-on-year, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

A breakdown of the asset data showed that large commercial banks accounted for 40.5 percent of the total, while joint-stock commercial banks contributed 18 percent.

The country's commercial banks reaped combined net profits of 1.1 trillion yuan in the first half, up 11.1 percent from one year earlier.

By the end of June, the non-performing loan ratio of commercial banks stood at 1.76 percent, 0.05 percentage points lower than the level at the end of the first quarter.