BEIJING, April 28 -- Insurance companies in China had a golden first quarter of 2015, with revenue and profits growing substantially, official data showed on Tuesday.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said premium revenues across the sector rose 20.4 percent year on year in the first three months to 842.5 billion yuan (137 billion U.S. dollars).

Domestic insurers took the lion's share of 95.5 percent, and premium revenues of foreign companies jumped 79.1 percent to grab a 4.5-percent share of the lucrative sector.

Premium revenues from life insurance increased 22.3 percent and those from assets insurance grew 12.7 percent.

The CIRC estimated that insurers' profits surged 142.6 percent in the first quarter to reach 87.1 billion yuan.