Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, riding high on its soaring share price, acknowledged that it lags its international peers and reminded investors that its ultimate purpose is to serve the government's development goals.

Jiang Jianqing, who heads the country's biggest lender, said that while ICBC's global stature had grown following its record $21.9 billion flotation last year, the bank still had much to do to catch up with its international rivals. "Our operational structure is not good enough and we need to further improve our efficiency," Jiang said in a statement. "We face many risks and uncertainties in our future development," he said.

The bank needed to strike a balance between seeking profits and serving the development goals of the government, its main shareholder, which Jiang said was its biggest priority. It also needed to step up efforts to become a more efficient lender with sound risk controls, he said. The bank was crippled with bad loans before it received a government bailout in 2005.

Its shares have been caught up in a feverish rally that propelled the Shanghai market to a record high last month, prompting policy makers to warn of a potential bubble.