The bank will continue to strengthen its ability to serve the real economy and to fend off financial risks, said Zhang.

The remarks come as state lenders are under pressure from Beijing to provide lower interest rates to beef up the faltering economy, squeezing their profits.

CCB's NIM stood at 1.79% at end-June, down from 1.83% at the end of March.

The bank will also face certain downward pressure from possible incoming repricing of existing mortgages, the bank's Chief Finance Officer Sheng Liurong told the press conference.

Detailed rules of lowering existing mortgage rates haven't come out yet, and it's hard to gauge its impact on banks' profits at this stage, said Sheng.

In addition, the bank will pay attention to prevent interest rate risks and will control the costs from long-term loans with low interest rates.

(Reporting by Ziyi Tang and Ryan Woo; editing by David Evans)