BEIJING, May 27 (Xinhua) -- China's banking institutions saw their assets and liabilities continue to expand in April compared with a year earlier, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The institutions had combined assets of 248.6 trillion yuan (about 38.9 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of April, up 7.2 percent year on year, the data show.

Their total liabilities reached 228.5 trillion yuan, up 6.8 percent.

Commercial banks had a total of 192.4 trillion yuan in assets, up 6.4 percent year on year, while their liabilities increased 6 percent to reach 177.2 trillion yuan.

Rural financial institutions saw their assets rise 6.6 percent to 33.4 trillion yuan and their liabilities expand 6.1 percent to 30.9 trillion yuan, according to the commission.