April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world's biggest bank by market value, expects first-quarter profit to soar by more than 50 percent as China's economic growth boosts demand for loans and fee-based services.

The Beijing-based lender cited ``rapid growth'' in interest, fee and commission income in the statement to Hong Kong's stock exchange today that gave the forecast. The expected increase is from a year earlier.

ICBC, with more customers than Russia's population, is benefiting from the fastest growth of any major economy. China's 14 publicly traded banks bolstered profits by about an average 70 percent in 2007, as the U.S. mortgage market collapse led to losses and job cuts at global rivals including Citigroup Inc.

The bank didn't provide an exact figure for profit in the three months ended March 31. It said net income was 18.71 billion yuan ($2.67 billion) a year earlier, based on Chinese accounting standards.

China's economic growth, 11.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, has spurred demand for credit and wealth management. The nation's outstanding local-currency loans jumped 15.7 percent to 27.2 trillion yuan at the end of February from a year earlier.

ICBC has gained 5.2 percent in Hong Kong this year, compared with a 13.8 percent drop in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.netLuo Jun in Shanghai at at jluo6@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: April 9, 2008 10:56 EDT