BEIJING -- Bank of China, one of China's "big four banks," announced Thursday that its net profits rose 6.8 percent year-on-year to 75 billion yuan ($11.9 billion) in the first half of this year.

The profit growth was attributed to an optimized income structure, better-quality assets and steady growth in overseas business, the bank said in a statement released on its website.

The lender said its total assets hit 12.83 trillion yuan at the end of June, up 8.42 percent from the end of 2011.

Its core capital adequacy ratio increased to 10.15 percent at the end of June, up 0.07 percentage point from the end of last year.

The bank's cross-border yuan settlement grew 20 percent year-on-year to 1.05 trillion yuan in the first half, said the statement.

Its cross-border trade of yuan has exceeded 3 trillion yuan in the past three years, ranking first in the country, according to the statement.

 Q2 bank earnings to signal end of easy profits