Overseas operation boosts BOC profit

Bank of China Ltd saw a 20.3 percent year-on-year growth in pretax profit for its overseas business to $9.5 billion last year, the bank announced on Thursday.

Overseas business contributed nearly 30 percent to BOC group's profit and about 30 percent of its total assets. The net interest margin of this part of business increased by 13 basis points to 1.09 percent in 2017.

"Step by step, our overseas assets will account for 40 percent of the total assets of BOC Group, and the overseas profit will contribute 40 percent to the group's profit. We are heading in that direction," said Lin Jingzhen, executive vice-president of the bank, at a news conference in Beijing.