The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), one of the country's "big four" lenders, said on Sunday that domestic operating profit rose 71 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to 14.1 billion yuan (2.01 billion U.S. dollars).

ABC ascribed the rise to intermediate service growth and an improved business structure. It didn't release overseas profit figures.

Income from intermediate services was 5.97 billion yuan, up 53 percent.

The non-performing loan ratio fell by 1.14 percentage points from 23.64 percent at the end of last year, with the total amount of non-performing loans dropping 7.3 billion yuan in the first quarter from the end of last year.

That decline was 2.2 billion yuan more than the same period last year.

The bank said it had given extensive support to reconstruction work following the severe winter weather, as well as to spring planting and stabilizing supplies of grains, meat, edible oils and dairy products.

New loans to support agriculture and farming and county-level economic development reached 68.3 billion yuan, accounting for 48 percent of total first-quarter loan growth.

ABC has 31,000 banking outlets nationwide and has branches in Singapore and Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2008)