BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Profits earned by the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) in 2005 jumped 32.84 percent year on year to 42.483 billion yuan (5.3 billion U.S. dollars), the China Securities Journal quoted ABC's annual report as saying Friday.

    The ABC is one of China's "Big Four" state-owned commercial banks, which also includes the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, and the China Construction Bank.

    The non-performing loan ratio of the ABC stood at 26.17 percentin 2005, 0.56 percentage points lower than the previous year, according to its annual report.

    ABC's revenue from intermediary business in 2005 totaled 9.613 billion yuan (1.2 billion U.S. dollars), up 34.02 percent.

    By the end of 2005, the total asset value of ABC reached 4.771 trillion yuan, 757.249 billion yuan more than that in 2004. The volume of outstanding deposits reached 4.036854 trillion yuan, 545.305 billion more than that in 2004.

    Although ABC's profit soared in 2005, its net earnings dropped 11.382 billion yuan year on year to 43.731 billion yuan, accordingto the annual report. Enditem