BEIJING-- The Agricultural Bank of China, one of China's biggest state-owned banks, said Thursday that its net profits surged 45.4 percent to 66.68 billion yuan ($10.42 billion) in the first half of this year.

The bank attributed the profit increase to a sharp rise in fee and commission income. The bank's revenues from fees and commissions amounted to 37.14 billion yuan during the period, up 65.4 percent.

The bank's county-level outlets reported an even higher profit increase of 78.6 percent during the first half, the bank said.

The bank's total assets reached 11.46 trillion yuan as of the end of June, up 10.9 percent compared with half a year ago.

The bank's capital adequacy improved after it issued 50 billion yuan in subordinated bonds during the first half. Its capital adequacy ratio reached 11.91 percent in June, narrowly exceeding the country's regulated requirement of 11.5 percent.