Chinese lenders' net profit grows in 2011

China's commercial banks saw their combined net profit expand to 1.04 trillion yuan (165.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2011, according to latest official data.

It was a marked increase from 763.7 billion yuan in 2010, statistics from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) show.

The lenders' non-performing loan ratio stood at 1 percent as of the end of 2011, down 0.1 percentage point year-on-year but up 0.1 percentage point from the end of the third quarter, according to the CBRC.

The capital adequacy ratio rose to 12.7 percent at the end of 2011 from 12.2 percent a year earlier.

Provision coverage ratio, the ratio of provisioning to gross non-performing assets which indicates the extent of funds a bank has kept aside to cover loan losses, increased to 278.1 percent from 217.7 percent at the end of 2010.

Chinese banks have been benefiting from strong growth in net interest income, investment returns and fees and commissions despite the global financial crisis.

In 2011, the total assets of the Chinese banking industry, including commercial banks, policy banks, credit cooperatives and other financial institutions, reached 113.3 trillion yuan, up 18.9 percent year-on-year, according to the CBRC.