A major rural commercial bank on the cusp of 500 billion yuan in total assets has announced a significant change in its leadership.
Recently, Guangdong Shunde Rural Commercial Bank announced on its official website that Wang Lei has resigned from his positions as Executive Director and President of the bank due to a work transfer. Wang Lei officially assumed the role of President at Shunde Rural Commercial Bank in April 2024, serving for over two years.
Wang Lei's professional background is substantial. Public information shows that this economics PhD, born in the 1970s, had a long career within the People's Bank of China system. He later served as Director of the Foshan Financial Work Bureau and Deputy Secretary-General of the Foshan Municipal Government. He was transferred to Shunde Rural Commercial Bank as Deputy Party Secretary in November 2023, officially approved as President in April 2024, and additionally took on the role of Chief Compliance Officer from February 2026.
According to the latest update on the Foshan Sino-German Industrial Service Zone website on July 13, Wang Lei has now been appointed as Deputy Party Secretary and Director of the Management Committee of the Foshan Sino-German Industrial Service Zone (Foshan Sanlongwan Science and Technology City).
With Wang Lei's departure, the position of President at Shunde Rural Commercial Bank is once again vacant. As the largest county-level corporate financial institution in China by scale, the bank has seen steady asset growth in recent years, placing its total assets among the top tier of rural commercial banks nationally. Financial report data shows that as of the end of 2025, the total assets of Shunde Rural Commercial Bank had reached 496.747 billion yuan (consolidated basis), approaching the 500 billion yuan milestone. This figure already surpasses that of several A-share listed rural commercial banks.
Resignation After Over Two Years in Role
Wang Lei's resume indicates he was born in 1976, holds a doctoral degree, and is a senior economist. His career combines experience within the central bank system and local financial management, making him a rare bank executive with a multi-faceted background spanning regulation, local government, and financial institutions.
Specifically, Wang Lei previously served as Party Committee Member and Deputy President of the People's Bank of China Shanwei Central Sub-branch, Deputy Director of the Survey and Statistics Department and Monetary and Credit Management Department at the People's Bank of China Guangzhou Branch, Party Secretary and President of the People's Bank of China Zengcheng Sub-branch (concurrently serving as Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange Zengcheng Sub-bureau), Director of the Business Department II at the People's Bank of China Guangzhou Branch Business Management Department, Party Secretary and Director of the Foshan Financial Work Bureau in Guangdong Province, and Deputy Secretary-General and Party Leadership Group Member of the Foshan Municipal Government in Guangdong Province.
During Wang Lei's tenure, Shunde Rural Commercial Bank completed several strategic initiatives. Particularly since last year, the bank has been active in pursuing expansion, extending its service network from its Foshan base into several core cities within the Greater Bay Area through methods like converting village and township banks into branches.
On the same day the announcement of the President's resignation was released, Shunde Rural Commercial Bank issued another announcement stating it would formally absorb and merge Shenzhen Longhua Xinhua Village Bank on July 13, 2026, and establish a Shenzhen Longhua branch at the original location. All business, assets, debts, obligations, and other rights and responsibilities of the original Shenzhen Longhua Xinhua Village Bank will be legally inherited by Shunde Rural Commercial Bank. This marks the bank's first cross-regional entry into the Shenzhen market.
Looking back over the whole of 2025, Shunde Rural Commercial Bank completed the absorption and merger of six village and township banks within the Greater Bay Area, including Foshan Nanhai Xinhua Village Bank, Dongguan Changping Xinhua Village Bank, and Guangzhou Panyu Xinhua Village Bank. Furthermore, the bank set a precedent in Guangdong Province by simultaneously opening four 'village/township bank to branch' institutions. On December 15 of that year, four such branches—Shunde Rural Commercial Bank Panyu Branch, Dongguan Changping Branch, Nanhai High-tech Branch, and Xinhui Branch—were inaugurated simultaneously.
Eight-Year IPO Journey Ends, Shifting Competitive Landscape in the Greater Bay Area
While continuously expanding its business footprint, operational data indicates that Shunde Rural Commercial Bank is currently undergoing a period of structural adjustment.
Financial report data for 2025 shows that both revenue and net profit at Shunde Rural Commercial Bank declined. Operating revenue was 7.716 billion yuan, down 7.14% year-on-year, while net profit was 2.937 billion yuan, a decrease of 13.59% year-on-year. The bank's net profit has now declined for two consecutive years from 2024 to 2025.
Breaking down the 2025 revenue composition, pressure on the bank's interest income is evident. Net interest income for 2025 was 5.703 billion yuan, down 4.34% year-on-year. The net interest margin continued to decline to 1.27%, though the pace of narrowing has moderated. The bank noted in its financial report that its deposit and loan structure is being optimized, with the deposit interest payment rate reduced by over 30 basis points, creating conditions for future margin stabilization.
However, pressure on asset quality remains a concern. As of the end of 2025, the total volume of non-performing loans at Shunde Rural Commercial Bank was 3.914 billion yuan, a decrease of 135 million yuan from the end of the previous year. The non-performing loan ratio was 1.51%, down 0.10 percentage points year-on-year. This marks the first simultaneous decline in both the NPL ratio and balance for the bank in nearly four years. The provision coverage ratio stood at 173.57%, down 1.72 percentage points from the end of the previous year.
Specifically, risks in the bank's personal loan portfolio are notable. In 2025, the balance of non-performing personal loans reached 1.817 billion yuan, an increase of 166 million yuan from the beginning of the year, primarily concentrated in personal business loans and credit card overdrafts. The personal loan NPL ratio consequently rose to 2.15%, up 0.23 percentage points from the end of the previous year.
Shunde Rural Commercial Bank was one of the first three rural credit cooperatives in Guangdong Province to successfully undergo restructuring into a commercial bank. It is also the largest county-level corporate financial institution in China by scale. The bank has sought an A-share listing for many years, initiating its A-share IPO process as early as 2017 and once harboring hopes of becoming "the first A-share listed rural commercial bank in Guangdong Province."
However, after years of preparation, the bank voluntarily terminated its eight-year IPO journey in July of last year. Information on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange website shows that, as the bank and its sponsor submitted an application to withdraw the listing application documents, the exchange decided to terminate the review of the bank's initial public offering and listing on the main board. The bank publicly stated at the time that this decision was made after a prudent assessment based on the need to optimize its strategic plan, resulting in a temporary suspension of the listing process.
With the presidency now vacant, whether Shunde Rural Commercial Bank can find a balance between performance pressures and operational transformation will be a key factor in the future direction of this near-500-billion-yuan rural commercial bank.
Zooming out to the Greater Bay Area, against a backdrop of intensified competition among small and medium-sized banks and IPO challenges, following Shunde Rural Commercial Bank's voluntary withdrawal of its listing application, only Dongguan Bank and Guangdong Nanhai Rural Commercial Bank remain in the IPO queue within Guangdong Province. Notably, Nanhai Rural Commercial Bank, also located in the Foshan area, recently saw progress in its listing process. On June 29, Nanhai Rural Commercial Bank once again disclosed its prospectus (application draft), updating relevant financial data for 2025, and its IPO review status was restored to "accepted."
In comparison, Nanhai Rural Commercial Bank is smaller in scale than Shunde Rural Commercial Bank but exhibits strong growth momentum. As of the end of 2025, the total assets of Nanhai Rural Commercial Bank reached 350.897 billion yuan, an increase of 5.79% from the end of the previous year. Total loan balances were 183.050 billion yuan, up 8.62% year-on-year, while total deposit balances were 247.967 billion yuan, an increase of 5.77% year-on-year.
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