Pingan Bank saw a 6.5-percent rise in net profit in the first half of the year thanks to strong performance of retail businesses.

The company's net profit rose to 13.3 billion yuan (about 1.9 billion U.S. dollars) in H1, according to its financial report filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Over the same period, the bank's revenue reached 57.2 billion yuan, up nearly 6 percent year on year, marking a turnaround from a 1.27-percent dip in revenue a year ago.

Since the beginning of this year, the bank has diverted more loans to retail businesses and improved the quality of its assets, according to China Chengxin International Credit Rating.

The business structure shake-up has seen revenue from retail businesses surge 34.7 percent year on year to 29.3 billion yuan in H1 or 51.2 percent of the bank's total.

By the end of June, the number of retail business clients surpassed 77 million, up 10.2 percent from the end of 2017, according to the bank's financial report.