BEIJING -- The combined net profits of China's commercial banks rose to 1.24 trillion yuan ($197.5 billion) in 2012, showed data released by the country's banking authorities on Friday.

This marked an increase of 18.9 percent from a year earlier, said the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The lenders' outstanding non-performing loans amounted to 492.9 billion yuan as of the end of last year, increasing 64.7 billion yuan from that in 2011, while the non-performing loan ratio shed 0.01 percentage points year on year to 0.95 percent, according to the CBRC.

The capital adequacy ratio rose to 13.3 percent at the end of 2012 from 12.7 percent a year earlier.

In 2012, the total assets of the Chinese banking industry, including commercial banks, policy banks, credit cooperatives and other financial institutions, reached 133.6 trillion yuan, up 17.9 percent year on year, said the CBRC.

China's banking sector is among the most lucrative businesses in the country as high interest margins, investment returns and other fees and commissions have combined to fuel their growth.