Citic Industrial Bank reported its pre-tax profits jumped 56.04 percent in the first six months of this year from a year earlier to hit 1.95 billion yuan (US$235.2 million).

It was also the highest first-half profit since CITIC In-dustrial was formed in 1987.

Its assets totaled 350 billion yuan by the end of June, compared with 335.16 billion yuan for the same period last year.

Its deposits totaled 303.6 billion yuan, while loans reached 205.6 billion yuan.

The bank did not reveal its nonperforming loan ratio by the end of the first half, however.

Dou Jianzhong, governor of CITIC Industrial, expected the bank's 2003 pre-tax profits to reach 3.65 billion yuan and assets to total 390 billion yuan.

"The sharp increase in profits should be attributed to the booming intermediary banking businesses during the period," said the bank in a statement.

CITIC Industrial began to sell China's first foreign exchange trust product in the first half of this year. The new product is designed by its parent China International Trust and Investment Corp.

Capital pooled from the sale of the product will be used to finance the cons-truction of a development zone in Daxie Island in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

(Shanghai Daily July 30, 2003)