CM BANK (China Merchants Bank Co.,Ltd.) has reported marginal growth for 2025, with increasing operational pressures on its traditionally dominant retail business.
The "king of retail banking," CM BANK, has announced a change in leadership. The company recently disclosed that its former Executive Director and President, Wang Liang, has stepped down due to age and will not assume another position within the company. Following Wang Liang's resignation, the company's board has appointed Wang Xiaoqing as the new President.
Wang Liang's tenure began during a period of turbulence for CM BANK, and Wang Xiaoqing's appointment commences as the company faces operational challenges. According to CM BANK's disclosed 2025 financial report, the company achieved only slight growth in performance, with revenue remaining stagnant for three consecutive years. Compared to banks of similar scale, there remains significant room for improvement in its results.
Key operational indicators for CM BANK have shown a decline. In 2025, CM BANK's net interest margin fell to 1.87%, though it remains a leader within the industry. The bank's non-performing loan (NPL) ratio decreased slightly, but the amount of NPLs increased, and provisions for loan losses decreased, causing the provision coverage ratio to drop below 400%.
CM BANK's retail financial business continues to lead the industry, but both its revenue and profit have declined. Income from the credit card business, seen as a "cash cow," saw a significant drop. The wholesale financial business experienced a situation of "increased revenue without increased profit," with non-interest income falling by over twenty percent.
CM BANK Announces Leadership Change: Wang Xiaoqing Appointed New President On April 30, CM BANK held a relevant meeting to announce a major personnel change. The company's former Executive Director and President, Wang Liang, resigned upon reaching retirement age and will not transfer to another position within the company. Simultaneously, CM BANK announced the appointment of Wang Xiaoqing as its fifth President, who will officially assume the role after completing internal company procedures and obtaining regulatory approval.
Wang Liang joined CM BANK in 1995, accumulating nearly 31 years of service at the company. In April 2022, when former CM BANK President Tian Huiyu was under investigation, the president position became vacant, and Wang Liang "answered the call in a crisis" to take over. During his four-year tenure, CM BANK's total assets grew from 9.4 trillion yuan at the end of Q1 2022 to 13 trillion yuan.
Upon Wang Liang's departure from the presidency, CM BANK stated that the board fully affirmed and highly commended his significant contributions to the bank, awarding him the title of "CM BANK Lifetime Honorary Staff Member."
The new President announced by CM BANK is Wang Xiaoqing. Public information shows that Wang Xiaoqing previously worked at PICC Asset Management Company, holding positions such as Assistant to the President and Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. He joined the CM system in March 2020, serving as General Manager and Chairman of CM Fund Management.
In October 2021, Wang Xiaoqing entered CM BANK, serving as an Assistant to the President, concurrently holding the chairmanship of CM Fund Management, Cigna & CM Life Insurance, Cigna & CM Asset Management, and also serving as President of CM BANK's Shenzhen Branch. In July 2023, Wang Xiaoqing was appointed Vice President of CM BANK, and in August 2025, he assumed the role of General Manager of CM Financial Holding.
Wang Liang retired upon reaching age, and Wang Xiaoqing has taken over as CM BANK's fifth President. Compared to his predecessor, Wang Xiaoqing's career is more diverse, having worked in insurance, fund management, financial holdings, asset management, and banking, and he is considered a talent across multiple financial sectors.
Performance Stagnant for 3 Years, Provision Coverage Ratio Decline Worsens When Wang Liang served as President of CM BANK, the company faced regulatory and public opinion crises. As Wang Xiaoqing assumes the presidency, the company is encountering operational and performance challenges. With increasing macroeconomic downward pressure, CM BANK's performance has bid farewell to double-digit growth. Since 2023, CM BANK's performance has been "stagnant" for three consecutive years, with revenue showing negative growth for two of those years.
Specifically, from 2023 to 2025, CM BANK's revenue growth rates were -1.64%, -0.48%, and 0.01%, respectively, while net profit attributable to shareholders grew by 6.22%, 1.22%, and 1.21%, respectively. This shows that although CM BANK's revenue has moved out of negative growth, its net profit growth rate continues to slow.
In 2025, CM BANK's revenue and net profit achieved only marginal increases, a performance not outstanding among banks of similar scale. According to Tonghuashun iFinD data, among the top ten banks by scale in the A-share market, CM BANK's revenue growth ranked second-to-last, and its net profit growth ranked sixth.
CM BANK's performance growth lags behind that of similarly sized banks, but its profitability remains relatively leading. In 2025, CM BANK's net interest margin was 1.87%, a decrease of 0.11 percentage points from 2024, but it remains favorable compared to other banks. Statistics show its net interest margin ranked second among 42 listed banks, second only to Bank of Changshu.
It should be noted that at the end of 2025, CM BANK's NPL ratio was 0.94%, a decrease of 0.01 percentage points from the same period in 2024, but the amount of NPLs continued to increase. For the period, NPLs were 682.06 billion yuan, an increase of 25.96 billion yuan year-on-year. Structurally, loss-category loans amounted to 322.65 billion yuan, an increase of 65.81 billion yuan year-on-year.
Furthermore, as the amount of NPLs increased while provisions for loan losses decreased, this led to a reduction in the provision coverage ratio. At the end of 2025, CM BANK's provisions for loan losses were 2,672.22 billion yuan, a decrease of 30.79 billion yuan year-on-year. During the same period, CM BANK's provision coverage ratio fell to 391.79%, marking the first time it has dropped below 400% since 2019.
The proportion of CM BANK's special-mention loans is also continuously rising. From 2023 to 2025, the ratios of special-mention loans were 1.10%, 1.29%, and 1.43%, respectively. Special-mention loans are the "reserve team" for NPLs, and their rising proportion reflects that the risk of future NPLs may continue to increase.
Retail "Moat" Narrows, Credit Card Transaction Volume Down by 330 Billion As the "king of retail banking," CM BANK's retail financial business remains strong. At the end of 2025, its total retail customer assets (AUM) reached 17.08 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.44%. This scale ranks first among major banks, significantly higher than the second-place figure of 5.36 trillion yuan.
Despite the growth in the scale of CM BANK's retail financial business, its revenue and pre-tax profit have declined instead of increasing. At the end of 2025, its retail financial business revenue was 1,852.93 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.74%; pre-tax profit was 874.17 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.65%.
The growth in retail customer assets is mainly attributed to the recovery of the wealth management market and private deposits. At the end of 2025, the balance of CM BANK's retail wealth management products was 4.41 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.20%; the balance of retail customer deposits was 4.27 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.49%.
The credit card business, seen as CM BANK's "cash cow," has shown a relatively noticeable contraction. At the end of 2025, the number of circulating credit cards was 97.451 million, an increase of approximately 600,000 year-on-year, ending the negative growth of the past two years, but transaction volume declined. For the period, credit card business transaction volume was 4.42 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 8.23%; credit card interest income and non-interest income increased by 1.32% and decreased by 11.30% year-on-year, respectively.
Notably, the NPL ratio for retail business increased from 0.96% to 1.06%, a rise of 0.10 percentage points. Among these, the NPL ratio for small and micro loans increased from 0.79% to 1.22%; the NPL ratio for personal housing loans increased from 0.48% to 0.51%. The NPL ratios for credit card loans and consumer loans both decreased.
The wholesale financial business experienced a situation of "increased revenue without increased profit." This business achieved revenue of 1,201.95 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.81%; pre-tax profit was 803.78 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.21%. Within this, interest income increased by 10.06% year-on-year, while non-interest income decreased by 20.72% year-on-year.
As the saying goes, "a new broom sweeps clean." Wang Xiaoqing, newly appointed as President of CM BANK, faces the company at a time of operational challenges: performance stagnant for three consecutive years, a narrowing retail "moat," continuously shrinking credit card transaction volume, and a rising NPL ratio for retail loans. Whether Wang Xiaoqing can lead CM BANK to new heights remains to be seen.
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