Lender targets cross-border business

Bank of China Ltd is making strenuous efforts to develop its cross-border renminbi business, part of its drive to expand non-interest income as it faces the dual challenges of a contracting interest rate margin and the increasing risk of bad loans.

Overseas assets increased by 21 percent to $765.3 billion at the end of June, compared with Dec 31, 2013, accounting for 28 percent of its total assets, bank President Chen Siqing told a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

The bank has become the world's largest participant in the offshore yuan market.