Last week, reports highlighted a leadership change at China Merchants Bank's credit card center. This report continues to detail the bank's recent mid-level personnel adjustments, involving the heads of two head office departments and the presidents and vice presidents of several primary branches.
Chief Information Officer Zhou Tianhong has stepped down from his concurrent role as Director of the Digital Finance Development Office. Zhou Tianhong, born in December 1967, holds a master's degree in Computer Software from Nanjing University and is an engineer. He joined China Merchants Bank in September 1994 and has held positions including Deputy General Manager (presiding over work) and General Manager of the Head Office Information Technology Management Office, and General Manager of the Head Office Information Technology Department. He was appointed as the bank's Chief Information Officer in December 2024 and concurrently assumed the role of Director of the Digital Finance Development Office in early 2025.
Wei Jiangbo, Deputy Director of the Digital Finance Development Office, has been promoted to Director. He previously served as Deputy General Manager of the Strategic Planning and Execution Department and Deputy General Manager of the FinTech Office. It is reported that in March 2024, to adapt to the trends in next-generation artificial intelligence technology, China Merchants Bank renamed its former FinTech Office to the "Digital Finance Development Office," also updating its functional scope. The office is now responsible for formulating the strategic plan for digital finance, promoting the implementation of this strategy across the bank, and managing CMB's FinTech Innovation Fund. Recently, China Merchants Bank and Volcano Engine signed a strategic cooperation agreement, with both Zhou Tianhong and Wei Jiangbo in attendance. The bank reiterated that in the face of the AI wave, it will continue to deepen its technology-driven strategy, uphold an "AI First" philosophy, and accelerate the transition from an "Online CMB" to a "Digital-Intelligent CMB." The 2025 interim report shows that CMB continues to invest resources in perfecting its "Cloud + AI + Middle Platform" digital-intelligent foundation. At the application level, AI has been deeply integrated into CMB's core business segments, including retail and wholesale banking.
Jiang Jie, Director of the Head Office Training Center, has been transferred to a Head Office Inspector role; he previously served as Assistant President and Vice President of CMB's Guangzhou Branch, and President of the Dongguan Branch.
Lian Jianhui, Full-time Team Leader of the Head Office Inspection Team, has been appointed Director of the Head Office Training Center. Lian Jianhui, born in 1971, holds a Ph.D. in Economics and is a senior economist. He has worked in the Head Office Research Department and the Head Office General Office of China Merchants Bank. He served as Vice President of CMB's Xiamen Branch in 2015, and later held positions as Full-time Deputy Team Leader and then Team Leader of the Head Office Inspection Team.
Ding Peng, Deputy General Manager of the Head Office Risk Management Department, has stepped back to a secondary line role; he previously served as General Manager of CMB's Healthcare & Elderly Care Strategic Customer Department.
Shi Xiaodong, President of the Zhengzhou Branch, has been transferred to a Head Office Inspector role; he was appointed President of CMB's Yantai Branch in February 2017 and succeeded Xiong Kai as President of the Zhengzhou Branch in April 2019.
Liu Lei, President of the Hohhot Branch, is slated to become President of the Zhengzhou Branch; he previously served as Vice President of CMB's Xi'an Branch.
Dai Chenghua, Vice President of the Suzhou Branch, has stepped back to a secondary line role; his previous roles include General Manager of the Credit Card Department at CMB's Shenzhen Branch, General Manager of the Marketing Promotion Department at the Credit Card Center, and Vice President of the Credit Card Center.
Dai Zhili, Vice President of the Hangzhou Branch, has stepped back to a secondary line role; she previously served as Assistant President and Vice President of CMB's Xi'an Branch, and Vice President of the Dalian Branch.
On January 22, the qualification of Tan Haiming for the position of Vice President of China Merchants Bank's Zhengzhou Branch was approved. Tan Haiming, a graduate of the PBC School of Finance, has previously worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Monetary Policy Department and Monetary Policy Department II of the People's Bank of China, the International Monetary Fund, and the Research Office of the State Council. He joined China Merchants Bank in 2018, serving as Deputy General Manager of the Research Institute and Deputy General Manager of the Head Office Asset and Liability Management Department. The above information on CMB's primary branches is from the 2025 interim report.
As of the end of June 2025, China Merchants Bank had 143 branches and 1,800 sub-branches in mainland China, along with 2 branch-level specialized institutions (the Credit Card Center and the Capital Operations Center), including 44 primary branches.
On January 23, China Merchants Bank disclosed its 2025 annual performance快报. The bank stated that "various businesses developed steadily in 2025, with overall operations in good condition."
In terms of scale, total assets officially exceeded 13 trillion yuan. As of the end of 2025, China Merchants Bank's total assets reached 13.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 918.487 billion yuan from the end of the previous year, up 7.56% year-on-year. Total liabilities were 11.789624 trillion yuan, an increase of 871.063 billion yuan from the end of the previous year, a growth of 7.98%.
In terms of performance, both operating revenue and net profit achieved "dual growth." For the full year 2025, CMB achieved total operating revenue of 337.532 billion yuan, a slight increase of 0.01% year-on-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 150.181 billion yuan, an increase of 1.21% year-on-year.
In 2025, the year-on-year changes in CMB's single-quarter revenue for the first three quarters were -3.08%, -0.36%, and 2.12% respectively, resulting in a slight full-year increase of 0.01%. The year-on-year changes in net profit for the first three quarters were -2.08%, 2.67%, and 1.04% respectively, culminating in full-year growth of 1.21%. The shift of full-year revenue growth from negative to positive, along with the improvement in profit growth, suggests that a turning point may have been reached in CMB's fundamental performance.
Regarding asset quality, as of the end of 2025, China Merchants Bank's non-performing loan ratio was 0.94%, down 0.01 percentage points from the end of the previous year. The provision coverage ratio was 391.79%, down 20.19 percentage points from the end of the previous year.
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