BEIJING, Oct. 1 -- China's trust industry reported steady expansion in the second quarter of 2023, the fifth consecutive quarter to see a year-on-year increase in asset value, industry data showed.

The outstanding trust asset value came in at 21.69 trillion yuan (about 3 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of June, up 2.73 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Trustee Association.

By the end of June, the country's trust funds held 5.06 trillion yuan in securities, up 29.92 percent year on year, the data showed. Another 2.19 trillion yuan worth of funds went to other financial institutions.

Experts say investment into industrial companies is likely to take up bigger shares in trust assets in the second half of this year as financing demand from the real economy warms due to sustained economic recovery.