BEIJING, Nov. 19 -- Chinese banking financial institutions saw a steady expansion in assets in the first three quarters of the year, data from the country's top banking and insurance regulator showed.

Local and foreign currency assets of these institutions totaled 373.9 trillion yuan (about 52.59 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of September, up 10.2 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 41.3 percent of the total, while joint-stock commercial banks contributed 17.4 percent.

The country's commercial banks reaped combined net profits of 1.7 trillion yuan in the January-September period, up 1.2 percent from one year earlier.

By the end of September, the non-performing loan ratio of commercial banks stood at 1.66 percent, lower than the level at the end of the second quarter.