China Zheshang Bank Co.,Ltd. has received its fourth fine of one million yuan or more this year. Recently, the Shanghai Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Regulatory Administration disclosed that the Shanghai branch of China Zheshang Bank Co.,Ltd. was fined 1 million yuan for severely violating prudent operation rules in factoring business credit management and employee behavior management. The bank stated to Phoenix Weekly Finance that rectification has been completed.
In May, the Qingdao branch was fined 1.95 million yuan for conducting business prohibited by the head office, inadequate trade background review, imprudent real estate loan management, and imprudent operations with the financing guarantee center. Four responsible personnel received warnings or fines. In April, the Jinhua branch was warned, had illegal gains confiscated, and fined 1.693 million yuan for violations including financial statistics, bank accounts, cybersecurity, credit investigation, and customer identification. In February, the Tianjin branch was warned and fined 1.1816 million yuan by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for illegal handling of capital project fund payments and receipts, failing to properly review transaction documents for current account fund transfers, and violating foreign exchange registration regulations.
Financial reports show that the Yangtze River Delta region, which includes the Shanghai and Jinhua branches, achieved operating revenue of 38.890 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for over 60% of the group's revenue, making it the most important operational area. The Bohai Rim region, covering the Qingdao and Tianjin branches, generated 7.841 billion yuan in revenue, representing 12.54% of total income.
In fact, in January 2025, the Shanghai branch was ordered to correct violations and fined 16.8 million yuan by the Shanghai regulator. At that time, the regulator listed 15 violations involving loan management, trade finance, bill business, credit card operations, cross-border lending, unified credit, and employee abnormal behavior management, with seven responsible personnel receiving warnings or fines.
Beyond compliance pressure, China Zheshang Bank Co.,Ltd. is currently in a phase of scale expansion alongside profitability pressure. The 2025 annual report shows operating revenue of 62.514 billion yuan, down 7.59% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 12.931 billion yuan, down 14.85%. In comparison, revenue was 63.704 billion yuan in 2023 and 67.650 billion yuan in 2024, with net profit of 15.048 billion yuan and 15.186 billion yuan respectively, indicating a significant decline in both metrics in 2025. According to Wind, the average revenue decline for nine A-share listed joint-stock banks in 2025 was about 2.63%, while the bank's 7.59% decline exceeded the industry average. The bank's net profit fell 13.59% in 2025, compared to the overall commercial banking sector growth of about 2.3%.
Meanwhile, the bank's asset scale continued to grow. As of the end of 2025, total assets reached 3.48 trillion yuan, up 4.68% year-on-year; total loans and advances were 1.92 trillion yuan, up 3.53%; and deposit balances were 2.04 trillion yuan, up 6.30%.
Interest margin narrowing is a key factor affecting profitability. From 2023 to 2025, the bank's net interest margin was 2.01%, 1.71%, and 1.60% respectively. Over the same period, ROA was 0.53%, 0.49%, and 0.40%; ROE was 9.45%, 8.49%, and 6.80%. All three indicators have continuously declined.
In terms of asset quality, as of the end of 2025, the non-performing loan ratio was 1.36%, down 0.02 percentage points from the end of the previous year. However, the provision coverage ratio dropped from 178.67% to 155.37%, a decline of 23.30 percentage points within one year; the loan provision ratio fell from 2.46% to 2.11%.
Entering 2026, China Zheshang Bank Co.,Ltd.'s operating indicators have stabilized somewhat. In the first quarter, it achieved operating revenue of 17.190 billion yuan, up 0.50% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 5.992 billion yuan, up 0.72%. As of the end of the first quarter, total assets increased by 6.64% from the end of last year, with loans and deposits growing by 4.71% and 5.44% respectively. However, the net interest margin for the first quarter remained at 1.60%, down 0.16 percentage points year-on-year; the capital adequacy ratio was 11.24%, down 0.88 percentage points from the end of last year. The non-performing loan ratio remained at 1.36%, but the balance of non-performing loans increased by 4.73% from the end of last year.
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