BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's commercial banks saw fast profit growth during the first half of this year, official data showed.

Chinese commercial banks made combined net profits of 1.03 trillion yuan (about 150 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months, up 6.37 percent year on year, data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission showed.

The growth was 1.55 percentage points slower than the same period last year.

By the end of the second quarter, the non-performing loan ratio of commercial banks stood at 1.86 percent, 0.12 percentage points higher than the end of the first quarter.

Outstanding bad loans from commercial banks amounted to 1.96 trillion yuan by the end of Q2, 182.9 billion yuan more than that of Q1.

Chinese banks held 260 trillion yuan in assets as of the end of June, up 7 percent year on year, the regulator said.

Meanwhile, lenders' liabilities rose 6.6 percent year on year to reach 240 trillion yuan.

China continued to take a tough line on market violations in the first half of the year to maintain stable market order and prevent risks.