BEIJING, March 25 -- Assets and liabilities of banking institutions rose at the end of February from a year earlier, China's banking regulator said on Friday.

As of the end of February, onshore assets of China's banking institutions, including commercial banks, policy banks and rural credit cooperatives, climbed 17.5 percent from one year earlier to 200.7 trillion yuan (30.78 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

Total liabilities of the institutions reached 185 trillion yuan at the end of last month, up 17 percent from a year earlier.

Commercial banks' assets gained 16.5 percent at the end of February from a year earlier, accounting for 77.4 percent of total assets of banking institutions.