2 Hong Kong banks sneaked in Asia's 50 largest

But China got the top spot.

SNL Financial has released a ranking of the largest 50 Asia-Pacific banks by total assets, and the data shows that China’s banks are increasing their dominance as 18 Chinese banks appear in the top 50, the most for a single country.

According to a release from SNL Financial, China is followed by Japan and South Korea with nine and seven entries, respectively. China boasts six of the 10 largest Asia-Pacific banks, with Japanese banks making up the rest of the group.

Two Hong Kong banks, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. were also included in the list, at ranks 11 and 49, respectively.

The release noted that Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., a Hong Kong-based unit of HSBC Holdings Plc, generated the best ROAA at 2.06%.

Here's more from SNL Financial:

According to the report, Beijing-based Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. retained its crown as the largest bank in the region, with total assets of US$3.174 trillion, up from US$2.953 trillion at the end of March 2013.

The company continues to expand globally; ICBC recently introduced credit and debit card services in New Zealand, received approval to open a branch in Kuwait and agreed to buy a 75.5% stake in Istanbul-based Tekstilbank AS.

Further, ICBC, along with its Chinese megabank peers, has significantly boosted lending to Australian companies.

Tokyo-based Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. lost the No. 2 spot to Beijing-based China Construction Bank Corp. after the value of the Japanese company's assets in U.S. dollar terms was eroded by a more than 8% deprecation in the Japanese yen in the 12 months through March 31.

Mitsubishi UFJ had total assets of US$2.507 trillion, compared to China Construction Bank's US$2.596 trillion.

The other two members of China's so-called Big Four, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. and Bank of China Ltd., both based in Beijing, held the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

The four Chinese banking giants are also among the 10 largest banks in the world, with ICBC taking the top spot on that ranking as well.