China’s five biggest banks posted first-half profits that surpassed the total of their 14 largest U.S. and European rivals, highlighting the Asian nation’s financial power as other economies falter.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. said net income rose 29 percent to a record $17 billion, pushing combined profits of the nation’s biggest banks to $57 billion and spurring its shares higher today.

But Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc posted losses as the U.S. economic recovery weakened and Europe ’s debt crisis deepened. China’s banks have increased profits as the world’s second- largest economy sustained growth of more than 9 percent, helped by a record credit boom that powered its rebound from the global recession.

The earnings reports and a drop in bad debts may boost investor confidence after bank shares fell this year on concern that $1.7 trillion of local government liabilities may lead to a wave of defaults.

“Shares of Chinese lenders are in a better position to rebound than U.S. banks,” Ronald Wan, a Hong Kong-based managing director at China Merchants Securities (Hong Kong) Co., said by phone. “In the second half, the market will still be concerned about asset quality and fund-raising issues” for banks globally.