BEIJING, Feb. 13-- The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of Chinese banks rose last year but banks' capacity to defend against risks also improved.

The ratio of commercial banks rose to 1.25 percent by the end of 2014, 0.25 percentage points higher than the beginning of the year, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said in an online statement on Friday.

Outstanding NPL was 842.6 billion yuan (137.46 billion U.S. dollars).

However, the banking sector still performed well with net profits growing by 9.65 percent year on year. The capital adequacy ratio remained high and liquidity was sufficient.