BEIJING -- China Minsheng Banking Corp Ltd announced Thursday that its net profit surged 36.9 percent to 19 billion yuan ($3 billion) in the first half of this year.

Business revenues rose 32.43 percent to 51.5 billion yuan in the first half, the lender said in a statement released late Thursday.

The non-performing loan ratio was 0.69 percent and provisioning coverage ratio was 352 percent at the end of June, the bank said.

The bank's total assets hit nearly 2.59 trillion yuan by the end of June, up 16 percent from the end of last year.

Its outstanding loans for small businesses reached 250.7 billion yuan, with the number of borrowers in the sector reaching 641,300, the statement said.

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