Industrial and Commercial Bank of China said yesterday its net profit increased 57 per cent in the first half to Rmb64.9bn ($9.5bn), on the back of higher fee income and widening government-set interest rate margins.

The strong performance allowed ICBC, which is 5 per cent owned by Goldman Sachs, to earn the largest first-half profit of any bank in the world, giving it a new accolade to add to its title as the world's largest bank in terms of market capitalisation.