BEIJING - China's banking sector witnessed an expansion in external financial assets in the fourth quarter of 2017, official data showed Tuesday.

The sector's external financial assets totaled $997.7 billion by the end of 2017, up slightly from $993.3 billion at the end of September, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said on its website.

The sector recorded $1.28 trillion of external liabilities as of 2017, resulting in net external liabilities of $281.2 billion, up from $238.8 billion of net external liabilities at the end of September.

SAFE started publishing external financial assets and liabilities banking data for the first time in March 2016.

The data reflects foreign-related business operations in the banking industry as well as the global allocation of the sector's assets and liabilities, which are important for improving statistical transparency and monitoring cross-border capital flows.