China's financial institutions report assets growth

Assets of financial institutions in China rose to 318.69 trillion yuan (about $45 trillion) at the end of last year, up 8.6 percent year-on-year, according to the central bank.

The banking sector's assets totaled 290 trillion yuan in 2019, edging up 8.1 percent from the previous year, while assets of securities institutions soared by 16.6 percent to 8.12 trillion yuan, the People's Bank of China said in an online statement.

Assets in the insurance sector reached 20.56 trillion yuan, up 12.2 percent from one year earlier.

Meanwhile, total debts in the financial sector saw a year-on-year increase of 8.1 percent to 289.43 trillion yuan in 2019. Debts in the banking sector went up 7.7 percent year-on-year to stand at 265.54 trillion yuan.

Last year, debts in securities and insurance sectors registered 5.81 trillion yuan and 18.08 trillion yuan, respectively.