On August 28, at the bank's 2026 interim results conference, China Everbright Bank Company Limited Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Liu Yan outlined the financial markets segment's performance during the first half of the year, noting a steady and positive development trend. The segment saw simultaneous improvements in investment returns, client operations, and management efficiency, with the "Sunshine Financial Markets" business characteristic becoming more prominent and its market influence and competitiveness gradually strengthening.
Liu detailed the first achievement as the effective capture of market opportunities through a multi-layered strategy system, which bolstered the profitability of investment and trading operations. In bond investment, the domestic bond market experienced volatile declines with a slight steepening of the yield curve in the first half. The bank strengthened its market analysis, advanced its allocation timeline, and seized the window of relatively high interest rates early in the year to efficiently establish positions, completing the majority of the annual allocation plan in the first quarter. Additionally, it moderately extended portfolio duration, optimized holding structures, and enhanced coupon income.
The second highlight centered on the deep expansion of the interbank ecosystem, where comprehensive client operations began to show initial results. At the start of the year, the bank established the foundational role of interbank clients in the financial markets segment's operations, defined a strategic path to empower revenue growth through the interbank ecosystem, and formulated a "3-tier, 14-group" comprehensive interbank client management system. This approach deepens the construction of the interbank ecosystem through layered and grouped strategies.
The third achievement focused on treasury management, which proactively adapted to the market environment and improved resource allocation efficiency. In the first half, the bank formulated forward-looking liquidity management strategies, effectively capitalized on windows of declining interest rates, and selectively absorbed market-based liabilities through multiple channels. This ensured the bank's overall liquidity remained healthy and secure while effectively controlling liability costs. The bank issued 35 billion yuan in perpetual bonds to replace higher-cost preferred shares, moderately increased issuance of low-cost interbank certificates of deposit to cover medium- and long-term funding gaps, and continued to expand high-quality liability sources such as interbank demand deposits. These measures collectively drove down the bank's market-based liability costs steadily.
Looking ahead, Liu stated that the financial markets segment will continue to refine its investment and research capabilities, navigate market trends effectively, optimize asset allocation, and maintain a stable investment foundation. The bank plans to further activate trading attributes by diversifying trading products, refining trading strategies, and capturing trading waves to promote revenue growth. It will also focus on deepening the breadth and depth of interbank client cooperation through ecosystem development to support high-quality segment growth. Additionally, the bank aims to enhance services for corporate exchange rate hedging to assist foreign-related enterprises in achieving stable and long-term development. Leveraging the strategy of RMB internationalization, it will seize opportunities in the free trade bond market to explore new avenues for business growth.
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