(Yicai Global) July 3 -- China's four largest commercial lenders have topped an annual global ranking of 1,000 banks for the first time.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China came top of UK industry magazine The Banker's annual Top 1,000 World Banks list, followed by China Construction Bank, Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China.

China made up four of the top ten, followed by the US with two and Japan and the UK, each with one entrant.

Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China rose one and two places, respectively, compared to last year's report, while US heavyweight JP Morgan Chase fell out of the top four.

China's banking sector has surpassed the Eurozone and the US for three consecutive years in terms of total tier-one capital, assets and pre-tax profits, ranking first globally.

The list also shows that for the first time in seven years, the global banking industry has posted double-digit growth in returns and capital. Total pre-tax profits among the top 1,000 lenders in 2017 reached USD1.1 trillion, with annual growth of 15.6 percent. Even Japanese banks, typically subjected to long-term negative interest rates policy, saw a profit expansion of 7.6 percent.

The report did not provide specific data on the total amount of tier-one capital, assets and pre-tax profits of China's four largest Banks.

Editor: William Clegg