After a vacancy lasting seven months, the leadership position at Hangzhou United Bank, with assets nearing 600 billion yuan, has finally been filled.
On May 9th, a front-page article in the *China Financial and Economic News*, supervised by the Ministry of Finance, explicitly mentioned Chai Leiying as the President of Hangzhou United Bank.
This indicates that Chai Leiying, a financial sector veteran born in July 1977, has been transferred from Zhejiang Rural Commercial United Bank to assume the role of President at Hangzhou United Bank.
However, public information does not yet show that Chai Leiying's appointment qualification has received regulatory approval, nor is related information displayed on the bank's official website. Whether this constitutes "assuming duties prior to approval" remains to be seen, pending subsequent regulatory approval notifications and official announcements from the bank.
**New Appointment for 48-Year-Old Female President**
Chai Leiying's appointment marks her as the fifth President since the bank's establishment and its first female President.
This appointment represents both a transfer and a return for Chai Leiying, as she was already appointed Vice President of Hangzhou United Bank back in July 2019 at the age of 42.
Chai Leiying holds a postgraduate degree in finance from Zhejiang University and is a Senior Economist. Her career began within the central bank system, where she served as Deputy Section Chief and later Section Chief in the Monetary Policy and Credit Policy departments at the People's Bank of China Hangzhou Central Sub-branch.
After transferring to Hangzhou United Bank, she held positions including Deputy Branch Manager of the West Lake Branch; Deputy General Manager/General Manager of the Head Office Risk Management Department, General Manager of the Microfinance Department, and General Manager of the Retail Finance Headquarters. She was appointed Vice President in July 2019.
However, two years later, in 2021, Chai Leiying was transferred to Wenzhou Bank as Vice President. In November 2024, the board of Wenzhou Bank agreed to her resignation from the Vice President role. Public information shows that after leaving Wenzhou Bank, she was transferred to Zhejiang Rural Commercial United Bank, serving as General Manager of the Retail Finance Department until this recent appointment.
At Hangzhou United Bank's 2026 work conference, Chai Leiying had not yet assumed her post. However, at the recent 2026 Party Building and Clean Governance Work Conference combined with the First Quarter Work Conference, she delivered a work report in her capacity as Deputy Party Secretary, marking her first appearance in the bank's public information.
Whether Chai Leiying has undergone formal board appointment procedures or if her qualifications have been submitted for regulatory approval remains unclear, as Hangzhou United Bank has not officially addressed these questions.
The resignation of the bank's previous President was somewhat abrupt. In September 2025, then-President Wen Yuan suddenly stepped down from his roles as Executive Director and President, with Chairman Lin Shiyi temporarily assuming the President's duties.
Chairman Lin Shiyi, also born in the 1970s (1971), holds a postgraduate degree from the Party School of the Central Committee and is a Senior Economist. His previous roles include Director at the former China Banking Regulatory Commission Zhejiang Office, Party Committee Member and President of Xiaoshan Rural Commercial Bank, and Party Secretary and Chairman of Shangyu Rural Commercial Bank and Xiaoshan Rural Commercial Bank.
**Recent Major Penalty**
It is noteworthy that five months after the quiet resignation of Hangzhou United Bank's President, a significant penalty was imposed.
In February 2026, the National Financial Regulatory Administration Hangzhou Bureau issued a fine of 11.1 million yuan to Hangzhou United Bank. This was the first banking industry fine exceeding ten million yuan in 2026 and the single largest penalty the bank has received in its 15-year history.
The reasons for the penalty included inadequate loan management and inaccurate data reporting. Simultaneously, 16 related individuals were also penalized, involving branch presidents and department general managers.
This was the third penalty the bank received since the start of the year. On May 8th, its Aksu Branch was fined 300,000 yuan for non-compliant performance evaluation, with responsible individual Jiang Xudong receiving a warning and a 50,000 yuan fine. On March 24th, the bank was fined 125,000 yuan for violating credit information management regulations, and an employee, Zhu, from its Dongxin Sub-branch was also fined 25,000 yuan.
Background information shows that Hangzhou United Bank was restructured from the Hangzhou Urban District Rural Credit Cooperatives Union and its 23 affiliated credit cooperatives into a rural cooperative bank, later transforming into a rural commercial bank in 2011. It currently has a registered capital of 2.18 billion yuan, operates 138 business outlets with over 3,000 employees, and is the financial institution with the most outlets in Hangzhou's main urban area.
Hangzhou United Bank initiated its IPO tutoring registration with the Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Bureau in February 2023, with China Securities Co., Ltd. as the tutoring institution. The tutoring period has now entered its thirteenth phase (January to March 2026). The frequent exposure of compliance issues undoubtedly casts a shadow over the IPO tutoring process.
As of the end of March 2026, the bank's total assets exceeded 596.6 billion yuan, total deposit balances surpassed 446.8 billion yuan, total loan balances exceeded 384.1 billion yuan, and it served over 5.6 million customers.
Despite being located in economically developed Hangzhou, the bank's performance remains under pressure. In 2025, it achieved operating revenue of 11.276 billion yuan, a decrease of 262 million yuan or 2.27% year-on-year. Pre-tax profit was 5.440 billion yuan, down 51 million yuan or 0.93% year-on-year. Regarding asset quality, as of the end of 2025, the non-performing loan ratio under the five-tier classification was 0.95%, an increase of 0.08 percentage points from the beginning of the year. The provision coverage ratio was 338.51%, a decrease of 124.40 percentage points from the start of the year.
With Chai Leiying's appointment as President, Hangzhou United Bank's senior management team now consists of one President and four Vice Presidents. Whether she can reverse the trend of declining performance will test this new, yet familiar, female President.
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