BOC Achieves Annual Profits of 10 Billion YuanThe Bank of China (BOC) reported an annual profit of 11.65 billion yuan in 2000, slightly up from 11.5 billion yuan the previous year, sources with the bank announced Friday, January 12.Liu Mingkang, president of the BOC, said at a national conference that the bank's total assets had exceeded 3.43 trillion yuan by 2000, up 8.3 percent on an annual basis, while total debts increased by 8 percent to reach 3.2 trillion yuan. The bank issued loans of 123.47 billion yuan last year, an increase of 29.3 billion yuan from 1999, among which loans granted for consumption purposes grew the fastest, surging 134 percent to hit more than 46 billion yuan, Liu added. The bank's overseas businesses grew steadily as well, with BOC's total overseas assets hitting US$155 billion or an increase of 7.7 percent. The BOC stepped up its efforts to restructure its domestic and overseas branches last year, and downsized its 1,000-plus computer centers to an integrated 280, Liu said. A nationwide auditing network was established at the first-level branches of the bank to facilitate direct administration, Liu added. The China Orient Asset Management Corporation, one of the country's four big financial asset management companies, also helped the BOC write off 18.5 billion yuan in non-performing loans through a debt-to-equity swap, asset reshuffle or other means. The bank will focus on developing high-quality assets this year, and more loans will be channeled to new fields, such as biology, new material development and information technology. |
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