An Agricultural Bank of China Ltd branch in Qionghai, Hainan province. The bank's nonperforming loans rose by 20 billion yuan ($3.24 billion) to 87.8 billion yuan in 2013 from the year before, with the NPL ratio at 1.22 percent. Meng Zhongde / for China Daily

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Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, the country's largest rural lender by assets, said net profit rose 14.5 percent in 2013.

The State-owned bank reported profit of 166.21 billion yuan ($27.02 billion) for the 12 months to Dec 31, from 145.13 billion yuan in 2012. Profit growth was the slowest since 2006 as the government sought to contain excessive credit supply and industrial capacity amid slower economic growth.

The bank reined in bad loans, stepped up collections and increased write-offs. At an earnings briefing on Tuesday, it voiced concerns about a slight increase in bad loans, especially from manufacturing and Yangtze River Delta steel enterprises.

Nonperforming loans increased nearly 20 billion yuan from 2012, to 87.8 billion yuan. The nonperforming loan ratio fell to 1.22 percent at the end of December from 1.33 percent in the previous year, partly due to asset sales.

The bank sold 4.1 billion yuan worth of bad loans in 2013, said Song Xianping, the bank's director of risk management.

"We felt pressure from nonperforming loans in the economic downturn," Song said. "Our nonperforming loans will increase slightly this year, but the risk in general will remain controllable."

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