BEIJING — Assets of China's financial institutions rose 8.7 percent year-on-year to 396.39 trillion yuan (about $59.23 trillion) by the end of the first quarter of this year, central bank data showed.

Specifically, the combined assets of the country's banking sector grew 8.6 percent year-on-year to 357.9 trillion yuan while that of securities institutions came in at 12.81 trillion yuan, an increase of 18.8 percent, according to the preliminary statistics released by the People's Bank of China.

Assets of China's insurance institutions went up by 5.8 percent from a year ago to 25.67 trillion yuan, the data showed.

The total liabilities of China's financial institutions stood at 360.27 trillion yuan at the end of the first quarter, up 8.6 percent year-on-year, the data showed.