BEIJING, April 28 (Xinhua) -- China's banking financial institutions saw an increase in total assets and liabilities, data from the country's top banking regulator showed.

By the end of March, onshore assets of these institutions, including commercial banks, policy banks and rural credit cooperatives, climbed 7.7 percent from a year earlier to 268.76 trillion yuan (39.93 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC).

Total liabilities of these institutions reached 246.51 trillion yuan in March, a 7.3-percent increase over the same period last year.

The growth rates of total assets and liabilities, important indicators of the health of the banking industry, both expanded faster compared with figures posted at the end of February.

The CBIRC data showed commercial banks' total assets, which accounted for 82.1 percent of total assets of banking institutions, gained 8.6 percent during the period, while their liabilities grew by 8.3 percent from a year earlier.