UPDATE 1-Bank of China sees 2010 lending growth slowing from 09

* Sees slower loan growth in 2010 vs 2009

* Expects interest margins keep rebounding (Adds quotes, details, byline)

By Michael Wei and Clare Jim

BEIJING/HONG KONG, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Bank of China (601988.SS) (3988.HK), the country's biggest foreign exchange lender, said lending would remain at a reasonable level in 2010, after government stimulus measures prompted a lending boom this year.

But the rate of lending growth next year would slow from this year's level, Li Lihui, the bank's president, said at an analyst briefing.

"We would make the adjustment and optimization of lending structure as our priority in the next year," Li said. "Meanwhile, we would ensure a reasonable growth of loans."

Lending would not slow down significantly in 2010 because the infrastructure projects that banks loaned to this year would continue to need financing, he added.

"Demand for funds from some major projects as well as the economy's recovery would probably be relatively huge," Li said.

The Beijing-based lender on Thursday posted a 19 percent rise in third-quarter profit, in line with market expectations, boosted by a lending boom in the first half of the year. [ID:nHKG6957]

The bank joins rivals including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (1398.HK)(601398.SS) and Bank of Communications (3328.HK)(601328.SS) in reporting a slowdown in loan growth in the third quarter, while net interest margins have stabilised.

Net interest margins, which already bottomed out, would continue to rise from the third quarter, he said.

After declining for most of the year, net interest margins, the main source of profit for Chinese banks, began improving in the second quarter and are expected to rise in the final quarter this year and next year. (Reporting by Michael Wei and Clare Jim; Editing by Chris Lewis and Lincoln Feast)