China's five largest banks issued strong earnings for the first quarter -- let's break down the numbers for you.

A strong quarter for all of the big five. But the biggest earner was ICBC, with 78.8 billion yuan. In terms of growth rate, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China logged the biggest profit increase. Followed by Bank of China, ICBC and BoCom. The robust performance is thanks to higher net interest margins, and a crackdown on shadow banking that gave them an advantage over smaller lenders. Balance sheets improved on the whole. The non-performance loan ratio all slipped or remained unchanged. Bank of China's NPL ratio stood at 1.43 percent at the end of March, the lowest among the five banks and dropped from 1.45 percent at the end last year. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China's NPL ratio dipped slightly. Both BoCom and China Construction Bank's NPL ratio stayed unchanged. All the five banks made more provision for bad loans. The provision coverage ratio at the end of first quarter was higher than at the end of 2017. Agricultural Bank of China's reading was the highest at 238.8 percent, China Construction Bank came in second. Followed by ICBC, Bank of China and BoCom.