Net profit rose to 59.64 billion yuan ($9.75 billion) in the quarter, according to the bank's unaudited financial statement filed on Thursday.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had on average predicted a result of 60.2 billion yuan.
Its non-performing loan ratio increased to 1.13 percent by the end of September from 1.04 percent at the end of June.
China's bad loan ratio stood at 1.08 percent at the end of June, according to official data, the highest ratio since 2011.