Bank's prudence leads to positive net profits

China Construction Bank reported a positive growth in net profit this year and will continue to adopt a proactive and steady credit policy in the second half, a senior official of the bank said.

"The bank has been very prudent in lending to customers in the first half, and loan growth is set to slow down for the rest of year," Guo Shuqing, chairman of the nation's second largest lender by assets, said at a media briefing on the bank's half-year results.

His remarks were confirmed by Vice-President Zhu Xiaohang, who told Hong Kong media that the bank aimed to extend a total of 900 billion yuan in new loans this year. The bank advanced 731.4 billion yuan in new loans in the first half in response to a government call to back the nation's giant stimulus package.