BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese insurers saw premium income drop 2.4 percent year on year to 2.47 trillion yuan (about 360 billion U.S. dollars) in the first seven months of 2018, according to official data.

The decline slightly narrowed from the 3.3-percent decrease seen in the first half of the year.

Indemnities paid by insurers totaled 692.3 billion yuan in the first seven months, up 5.1 percent year on year, data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission showed.

Total assets of the insurance industry stood at 17.7 trillion yuan at the end of July, up 5.4 percent from the beginning of the year. Outstanding investment by insurers reached 15.7 trillion yuan.

Authorities moved to tighten regulation on the insurance sector last year as they put a priority on preventing systemic financial risks.