Bank of China deals with nonperforming loans

Growing trend of NPLs attributed to economic downturn and transformation of industries

Bank of China Ltd, the nation's fourth largest commercial lender by assets, said it had stepped up resolution of nonperforming loans because it saw continued growth in NPLs during the first three quarters of 2016.

The bank and its subsidiaries, reported nonperforming loans totaling 146.03 billion yuan ($21.55 billion) at the end of September, rising 13 percent from the previous year. Its NPL ratio also went up 5 basis points to 1.48 percent, the group announced on Wednesday evening.