In terms of CMB's external activities, President Wang Liang has been the more frequent public representative.
For instance, at the end of December last year, Wang Liang delivered the speech on behalf of the bank at the inauguration of its AIC subsidiary; similarly, he was also present to witness the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement between China Chengtong and CMB.
Wang Liang, born in December 1965, recently turned sixty years old. He has been working at CMB for over 30 years and has served as President for more than three years.
During his tenure as President, CMB has maintained growth in its asset scale but has consistently faced challenges with unstable profitability. From 2022 to 2024, CMB's revenue growth rates were 4.08%, -1.64%, and -0.48% respectively, while the growth rates of net profit attributable to shareholders were 15.08%, 6.22%, and 1.22%.
Entering the first nine months of 2025, CMB achieved operating income of 251.420 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.51% year-on-year, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 113.772 billion yuan, an increase of 0.52% year-on-year, indicating profit growth without corresponding revenue growth.
A particularly troublesome issue for Wang Liang is the narrowing net interest margin.
In 2022, 2023, 2024, and the first nine months of 2025, the bank's net interest margin was 2.40%, 2.15%, 1.98%, and 1.87% respectively, showing a continuous decline.
Compared to its corporate business, the pressure on CMB's retail banking segment is more pronounced.
On the deposit side, in an effort to rescue the net interest margin, some of CMB's large-certificate deposits are being phased out, and their interest rates have dropped significantly.
The bank's official website shows that by the end of 2025, CMB had issued six tranches of personal large-denomination certificates of deposit, with interest rates ranging from 1.1% to 1.75%, and no five-year products were available.
Taking CMB's 2026 Fifth Tranche personal large-denomination certificate of deposit as an example, the product offers an interest rate of 1.75% with a term of 3 years and a minimum subscription amount of 200,000 yuan.
Compared to the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, when CMB issued a total of fourteen tranches of personal large-denomination certificates of deposit, some products had maximum interest rates reaching 2.15%.
CMB is actively working to control its liability costs.
The savings deposit interest rate table disclosed on its official website shows that the interest rates for CMB's lump-sum deposit and withdrawal for three-year and five-year terms are 1.25% and 1.3% respectively, offering relatively little competitive advantage.
There is still room for improvement in CMB's retail deposit business.
As of the end of September 2025, the balance of retail customer deposits at CMB was 4,310.421 billion yuan, an increase of 6.88% from the end of the previous year. Demand deposits accounted for 44.86% of retail customer deposits, indicating that the proportion of retail customer demand deposits remains relatively high.
CMB management had previously mentioned that, compared to its peers, the bank has less room to reduce its liability costs, and faces greater pressure for further reductions.
They explained that, on one hand, the bank's demand deposit ratio exceeds 50%, implying less room for reduction; on the other hand, the bank has always strictly controlled high-cost deposits, resulting in a lower proportion, which also means there is limited room to reduce both demand deposits and high-cost deposits.
In the area of retail loans, CMB is also facing growth pressures.
As of the end of September 2025, CMB's retail loans stood at 3.69 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.43% from the end of the previous year, while corporate loans were 3.15 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.01% from the end of the previous year. The growth rate of retail loans still lags behind that of corporate loans.
Simultaneously, the non-performing loan ratio for CMB's retail lending business is rising. In the first nine months of 2025, the bank's retail loan NPL ratio was 1.05%, up from 0.98% at the end of the previous year.
As of the end of September 2025, CMB had 220 million retail customers (including debit card and credit card customers), an increase of 4.76% from the end of the previous year. The total assets under management (AUM) for retail clients reached 16,597.523 billion yuan, an increase of 1,670.809 billion yuan from the end of the previous year, representing growth of 11.19%.
Comments