BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Bank of China (BOC), one of the country's biggest lenders, said Wednesday its after-tax profits rose 2.58 percent year on year to 252.7 billion yuan (about 35.22 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024.

Its revenues totaled 632.8 billion yuan, an increase of 1.38 percent year on year, and its non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.25 percent at the end of last year, down 0.02 percentage points from the end of 2023.

By the end of 2024, the lender's outstanding loans to private enterprises had surpassed 4.42 trillion yuan, representing a cumulative increase of 81 percent in the past three years.

"We capitalize on the BOC's global and comprehensive strengths, focusing on enhancing our service effectiveness for private enterprises," said BOC President Zhang Hui.

The bank will refine its multi-tiered financial supply system to better support the development of the private economy, and plans to provide over 5 billion U.S. dollars in intended financing support for private enterprises' overseas projects this year, Zhang added.