China Construction Bank, one of the country's big four State-owned commercial banks, said the ratio of its non-performing loans stood at 13.89 per cent at the end of March, a 1.03 percentage point drop compared with the beginning of the year, said a spokesman with the bank.
Aiming to reduce the non-performing loans, the bank has taken a series of measures to improve its loan quality, including a key emphasis on the development of non-interest business, he added.
By the end of March, the bank's outstanding deposits stood at 2,358.9 billion yuan (US$284.2 billion), an increase of 105.7 billion yuan (US$12.7 billion) from the beginning of the year.
Outstanding loans reached 1,545.5 billion yuan (US$186.2 billion), an increase of 53.3 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion) from the beginning of the year.
Net profits from the bank's non-interest departments reached 859 million yuan (US$103.5 million) during the first three months, a whopping 54.1 per cent increase compared with a year ago.
The bank also developed employee incentives, such as special prizes for those who achieve remarkable results in reducing non-performing loans.
President Zhang Enzhao had said earlier that the China Construction Bank would lower the ratio of non-performing loans by 2.5 percentage points this year.
Last year, the bank's non-performing loans dropped 3.18 percentage points to 14.92 per cent.
"We will continue to deepen reform to improve our business mechanism this year," said Zhang, whose top priority is the establishment of a modern corporate governance system.
The bank's business should cater to market demand and be under a strict risk control system, he said.
(China Daily April 27, 2002)
