china citic bank corp said its net profit rose nearly 14 in 2021 amid an improvement in both asset quality and business scale net profit rose to 5564 billion yuan 874 billion compared with cny4898 billion in the prior year the bank said late thursday operating income also rose to cny20455 billion versus cny19540 billion in 2020 the lenders net interest margin fell slightly to 205 compared with 226 in 2020 china citics nonperforming loan ratio decreased to 139 from 164 in 2020 and its nonperformingloan balance fell 82 to cny6746 billion as of end2021 the banks total assets rose 71 to cny8043 trillion in 2021 and it guided for its assets to grow by 68 in 2022 asset quality kept improving and risk resistance ability further enhanced over the year the lender said china citic bank flagged the resurgence of covid19 and the likely shifting the extremely loose monetary policy as risks in its outlook the mounting protectionism and unilateralism the growing geopolitical tensions and the slow recovery of the global industry chain and supply chain all pose challenges it added china citic proposed an annual dividend of cny302 for every ten shares