BEIJING, May 8 -- Chinese banks' non-performing loans (NPL) increased by 139.9 billion yuan (22.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter to 982.5 billion, the industry regulator said on Friday.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission said NPLs accounted for 1.39 percent of all outstanding loans at the end of March, up 0.15 percentage points from the beginning of the year.

An NPL is a loan that is in default or close to being in default.

Chinese banks held a total of 2.08 trillion yuan as loan loss reserves at the end of March, rising by 127.4 billion in the first three months.

Despite NPL risks, Chinese banks' total assets grew 12.07 percent year on year to reach 178.8 trillion yuan at the end of March.

Outstanding loans to the agricultural sector and small and micro businesses at the end of March grew 12.9 percent and 16.8 percent year on year, outpacing average loan growth.