BEIJING — Premium income received by Chinese insurers rose 31 percent in the first two months, compared with a year earlier, official data showed Thursday.

Premium income reached 1.19 trillion yuan (about $173 billion) from January to February, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Growth retreated from the 51.5-percent rise in the same period last year.

Premium income of life insurance companies hit 1.02 trillion yuan, up 35 percent, compared to the 63.8-percent growth in the same period last year. Property insurance companies' premium income rose 10 percent to 165.4 billion yuan.

Analysts attributed the slower growth of premium income to the regulator's measures to better regulate universal life insurance.

By the end of February, the industry had combined assets totaling 13.85 trillion yuan, up 3.44 percent from the beginning of the year.