Bank of China Ltd. (03988.HK) , the country's largest foreign-exchange lender, said Wednesday its net profit rose 28% in the first half on the strength of its domestic businesses.

Bank of China, nearly 70%-owned by the Chinese government, said its net profit for the January-June period was CNY66.51 billion (US$10.4 billion), up from CNY52.02 billion a year earlier. The result was slightly better than the average CNY65.46 billion net-profit forecast of eight analysts.

The bank said its net interest income rose 20% to CNY110.22 billion at the end of June, while its non-interest income from credit cards, wealth-management product sales and international trade-related settlement and clearing increased 36% to CNY55.76 billion.