BEIJING - The scale of China's public offering funds reached 17.8 trillion yuan (about $2.63 trillion) by the end of August this year, data from the Asset Management Association of China showed.

The latest figures marked an increase of 0.62 percent from the scale reported at the end of July.

According to the association, the public offering funds were operated by 129 fund management companies, of which 85 were domestic firms and the rest were joint ventures.

China's asset management business expanded slower in recent years as authorities tightened regulations to contain risks arising from wealth management products.

In 2017, draft guidelines unified rules covering asset management products issued by all types of financial institutions, requiring them to set leverage ceilings.