Lenders may see slower profit growth this year

The China Banking Association said on Monday that banks' profit growth might further decelerate to 9 percent this year, following a slowdown in the economy that limits loan book expansion.

Profits grew 15.4 percent in 2013, when the banking sector raked in 1.74 trillion yuan ($280 billion) in profits, and 20.7 percent in 2012.

But still, the sector will probably remain one of the world's most profitable. The aggregate pretax profit of Chinese banks last year accounted for 32 percent of the industry's global earnings, according to The Banker magazine's annual rankings of the profits and capital strength of the world's biggest 1,000 banks.