The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) has set up a separate risk management department to enhance internal controls, in a further move to speed up restructuring, a bank official said.

'We will appoint a chief risk management officer later,' the official, who asked not be named, told XFN-Asia.

The bank's president Xiang Junbo, earlier told state media that Central Huijin, now an arm of the newly-established China Investment Co, will inject capital into the bank as part of the restructuring.

Xiang said the bank booked an operating profit of more than 70 bln yuan in the nine months to September, with the NPL ratio also falling during the period, but didn't give the absolute figure.

The bank, China fourth-largest, was established in 1979 to serve China's 800 mln farmers. It is the only one of the big four state banks that remains unlisted.