The total lending by Agricultural Bank of China, the nation's third-largest lender by assets, increased by RMB 1.03 trillion last year, RMB 658.9 billion more than that of a year ago, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing ABC's chairman Xiang Junbo as saying.

A total of RMB 150 billion has been lent to rural households, including RMB 67.3-billion small loans for farmers, as the Chinese lender continues to support the development of rural areas, said Xiang,

The lender's total deposit grew RMB 1.75 trillion in 2009, up 27.7% year on year. Revenue from its brokerage business rose 44% from a year ago to RMB 38.5 billion, said the report.

Xiang also noted that the bank will expand more actively to urban areas this year, where the other three Big Four state-owned lenders have grabbed a larger share.