The rotation of rankings in the capital market often signals shifts in fund flows and underlying investment logic.
Following Agricultural Bank of China's brief stint at the top of the total market capitalization ranking in 2025, China Construction Bank (CCB) has recently made a strong push to surpass Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and claim the new throne. The bullish momentum continued, with CCB's share price hitting another record high on May 27, reaching an intraday peak of 10.45 yuan per share. By the close, the bank's total market capitalization had soared to 2.67 trillion yuan, surpassing ICBC's 2.54 trillion yuan.
Prior to this, the title of the A-share market's largest company by market cap has changed hands multiple times. Kweichow Moutai long dominated the ranking due to its consumer scarcity appeal, PetroChina once topped the list during energy cycles, the "world's largest bank" ICBC has held the position steadily, and Agricultural Bank of China briefly took the crown in 2025 with its stable performance.
This latest shift in market cap ranking reflects the realization of value based on solid fundamental support. In the first quarter of 2026, CCB achieved its highest revenue growth rate in nearly six years, saw a recovery in its net interest margin, and demonstrated significant progress in its asset-light transformation. Analysts believe that, coupled with two consecutive years of special treasury bond injections worth hundreds of billions specifically aimed at capital replenishment, high-quality leading banks will continue to reap valuation premiums, with their long-term growth potential remaining promising.
Caption: CCB's A-share price trend chart since the beginning of the year.
The Change of the "Top Dog" in Market Cap As the once-dominant consumer giants fade from their former glory, large state-owned banks rooted in the real economy and possessing low volatility and strong defensive attributes are gradually taking the baton, becoming the preferred safe haven for current market funds.
Not long ago, the A-share market witnessed a historic moment. CCB's share price continued its strong performance, repeatedly刷新ing historical records, successfully claiming the top spot in total market capitalization among the six major state-owned banks, and seizing the "number one" title by total market value.
This upward trend began in early March. CCB's share price climbed from 8.52 yuan per share at the start of March, breaking through multiple resistance levels and firmly establishing itself above the 10-yuan psychological关口. The rally intensified in May. On May 22, the bank's shares surged to an intraday high of 10.13 yuan, closing steadily above the 10.10 yuan mark. Its total market cap突破ed 2.65 trillion yuan in one move. This performance not only刷新ed the bank's own share price record since its listing but also achieved an overtaking of ICBC.
The strong momentum did not stop there. CCB's share price continued its upward trajectory in subsequent trading sessions. On May 25, the intraday high touched 10.19 yuan per share. On May 26, the share price gained further strength after opening,刷新ing a 60-day price high. The突破es continued. On May 27, CCB's share price once again broke through previous highs, reaching an intraday peak of 10.45 yuan per share. By the close, its total market cap had climbed to 2.67 trillion yuan. For comparison, ICBC's total market cap during the same period was 2.54 trillion yuan. CCB is also currently the only stock among the six major state-owned banks with a share price above 10 yuan, boasting a year-to-date increase of over 10%.
The rotation of market cap rankings among state-owned banks did not start with CCB. The biggest "dark horse" in the banking sector in 2025 was Agricultural Bank of China, which深耕s the county and下沉 markets. On September 4 of that year, Agricultural Bank of China's A-shares experienced a significant surge, closing at 7.52 yuan per share with a single-day gain of 5.17%. The intraday high reached 7.55 yuan, setting a new historical high for its stock price. That day, the bank's total market cap reached 2.55 trillion yuan, surpassing ICBC for the first time to top the banking sector. After that, ICBC regained the "top market cap" position until CCB's recent rise once again altered the rankings.
Taking a longer-term view, the top spot in A-share total market capitalization has long alternated among PetroChina, ICBC, and Kweichow Moutai. For a considerable period, Kweichow Moutai,凭借ing its high gross margins, ample and stable cash flow, and weak cyclicality, became a core asset favored by institutional investors, firmly holding the number one position in total market cap and representing the golden era of the consumer sector. However, as market logic has been重构ed,实体硬核 assets with high certainty and strong defensive attributes have gained favor, leading energy leaders and state-owned commercial banks to successively reach the pinnacle of market value.
Xue Hongyan, a特邀研究员 at Sushang Bank, pointed out that the market cap rankings of leading state-owned banks have long been交替轮换ing, with different banks taking turns in the lead. CCB's achievement in overtaking ICBC this time is the result of multiple factors, including fund preferences, market sentiment, and changes in its own operations. Against the backdrop of industry-wide pressure on net interest margins, CCB managed to stabilize its net interest margin against the trend and achieved significant growth in non-interest income. Its quarterly operational performance demonstrated good resilience, forming fundamental support superior to its peers, which became a key factor driving its rise in the market cap ranking. The market has re-priced banks based on a comprehensive consideration of their operational quality and development potential, ultimately leading to the internal rotation of market cap rankings within the banking sector.
Why CCB? Many wonder why, within the same banking industry and facing common challenges like declining interest rates and contracting net interest margins, CCB alone among the major state-owned banks could突破 against the trend and chart an independent course.
The answer lies in the key data from its Q1 2026 report: the highest revenue growth rate in six years, a recovery in net interest margin, growth in non-interest income, and significant progress in light-capital transformation.
In the first quarter of 2026, CCB achieved operating revenue of 211.256 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.15%. This growth rate稳居the top among the six major state-owned banks and also marked the bank's highest growth rate in nearly six years. Its net profit attributable to shareholders reached 86.291 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.53%, ranking third in growth rate among the six major state-owned banks.
The continuous推进of interest rate liberalization, persistently high deposit costs, and declining loan pricing have led to a sustained "跌跌不休" in the net interest margin for the entire banking industry, continuously compressing the profit margins of large banks. Looking at the data, as of the end of Q1, Postal Savings Bank of China still led the six major state-owned banks with a net interest margin of 1.65%. CCB ranked second with a net interest margin of 1.36%, which increased by 0.02 percentage points compared to the end of 2025, making it one of the few cases in the banking industry where the interest margin recovered. Bank of Communications showed the strongest修复力度with a sequential increase of 0.03 percentage points, though its net interest margin of 1.23% placed it at the bottom among the six major state-owned banks.
The ability to修复interest margins stems from精细化管理of assets and liabilities. At the 2025 annual results conference, CCB President Zhang Yi stated the need to build distinctive advantages and seek efficiency from asset-liability management and customer深耕. On the asset side, the focus is on promoting effective quality improvement and reasonable quantity growth. On the liability side, the aim is to enhance the management capability for major liability categories, secure growth in core deposits, vigorously expand payment and settlement, transaction-based, and wealth management funds, and effectively reduce liability costs.
For a long time, banks' profit models have heavily relied on interest spread income, characterized by capital-intensive, low-elasticity, and strongly cyclical operations. However, the asset-light transformation推进ed by CCB in recent years has also yielded显著成效. In Q1 2026, CCB's non-interest income reached 57.788 billion yuan, a substantial year-on-year increase of 20.02%. In 2025, the bank's non-interest income was 188.275 billion yuan, an increase of 19.85% compared to the previous year. Breaking it down, net fee and commission income was 110.307 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.13%. The ratio of net fee and commission income to operating revenue was 14.49%, up 0.44 percentage points from the previous year. Relying on income growth from wealth management products and fund management fees, CCB's asset management business income reached 15.341 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 78.78%. The wealth management segment also performed impressively, with managed financial assets of individual clients exceeding 23 trillion yuan and the number of wealth management clients achieving double-digit growth. It is evident that light-capital businesses such as wealth management and asset management have become new growth engines for CCB.
Dong Ximiao, Chief Economist at Zhaolian,分析指出that CCB's 20.02% year-on-year growth in non-interest income for Q1 signifies the bank's加速transition from primarily relying on credit business to providing comprehensive financial services. Data indicates that by the end of 2025, the bank's personal AUM突破ed 23 trillion yuan, and asset management business income surged by 78.8%. Interest and non-interest income have formed a "dual-engine," driving the continuous optimization of the income structure. Compared to other large banks, CCB's comparative competitive advantages lie in its深厚foundation of individual and private banking客户群, providing a solid base for wealth management; stronger group synergy effects, effectively integrating wealth management and asset management segments with领先internal resource整合efficiency; and being ahead in digital-intelligent transformation, with AI empowerment and intelligent risk control enhancing the quality of intermediary business. These advantages endow the bank with stronger盈利弹性and growth attributes in a low-interest-rate environment,正在成为its differentiating moat from peers.
State-Owned Banks See Valuation Repair Space If solid fundamentals are the底气for a bank to reach the top in market cap, then continuously落地policy support serves as the catalyst for the overall valuation重塑and upward potential of state-owned banks.
The 2025 Government Work Report proposed issuing 500 billion yuan in special treasury bonds specifically for补充ing the capital of large state-owned commercial banks. CCB, along with Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank of China, received the first batch of注资. Entering 2026, policy support力度continued to加码. The 2026 Government Work Report proposed to "continue implementing a more proactive fiscal policy" and explicitly stated plans to issue超长期special treasury bonds totaling 1.3 trillion yuan to持续support the "two重" construction and "two新" work. It also plans to issue special treasury bonds worth 300 billion yuan to support the capital补充of large state-owned commercial banks.
According to the Ministry of Finance's issuance arrangement, the first tranche of special treasury bonds for注资ing central financial institutions this year was issued on May 22. Two rounds totaling 800 billion yuan represent the largest scale of fiscal注资in recent years, forming a systematic and可持续capital support mechanism. The market普遍认为that持续large-scale注资fundamentally打破s the capital constraints on the development of state-owned banks and also presents an opportunity for banks with operational advantages to experience valuation跃升.
In Dong Ximiao's view, the two rounds of special treasury bond注资totaling 800 billion yuan in 2025 and 2026 for large commercial banks have a positive effect on the valuation of large bank stocks. Firstly, the注资enhances the core tier-1 capital adequacy ratio,消除ing market concerns such as "capital缺口拖累dividends" and reducing the instability of dividends. Secondly,据测算, the注资can leverage approximately several trillion yuan in incremental credit, helping to form a positive cycle of "capital补充, asset growth, revenue growth, and market cap提升."
Special treasury bond注资can effectively补充the core tier-1 capital of state-owned banks,缓解ing long-standing capital constraints and拓宽ing space for credit投放and risk抵御.
Xue Hongyan further指出that this属于policy-oriented定向equity capital increase. Although it may cause slight摊薄to the equity of existing shareholders, the pricing is reasonable, and the dilution impact is limited. Moreover, it can替代subsequent market-oriented equity financing needs of the banks, avoiding the equity dilution pressure brought by常规financing in the secondary market. Simultaneously, the专项注资releases a strong signal of policy托底, effectively打消ing market concerns about the capital缺口and asset quality of large banks, and重塑ing the valuation logic for state-owned banks. Looking ahead, as capital瓶颈持续缓解,叠加with differences in the transformation progress and operational质效of various banks, industry valuation分化will further加剧. State-owned banks with稳健operations and orderly推进ing transformation are有望to迎来持续的valuation repair and market cap上行空间.
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