The 2025 dividend season for A-share listed banks is drawing to a close.
Data shows that among the 42 A-share listed banks, 41 have distributed a total of 645.637 billion yuan in 2025 cash dividends, an increase of approximately 13 billion yuan compared to 2024.
Major State-Owned Banks as Dividend Pillars
The six major state-owned banks are the undisputed backbone of these payouts. Combined, they distributed 427.424 billion yuan in 2025 cash dividends, accounting for two-thirds of the total dividends from A-share listed banks and representing an increase of about 6.8 billion yuan from the previous year.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) led the pack with an annual cash dividend of 110.593 billion yuan, securing the top spot on the A-share dividend ranking for the 19th consecutive year. China Construction Bank Corp (CCB) followed with a 101.684 billion yuan dividend, marking its third straight year of payouts exceeding the 100-billion-yuan threshold.
Annual dividends for Agricultural Bank of China Ltd (ABC), Bank of China Ltd (BOC), Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom), and Postal Savings Bank of China Co Ltd (PSBC) were approximately 87.3 billion yuan, 72.9 billion yuan, 28.7 billion yuan, and 26.2 billion yuan, respectively. The dividend payout ratios for all six major banks remained at or above 30% of their net profits attributable to parent company shareholders, significantly exceeding the regulatory requirement of "not less than 20%."
Adoption of Biannual Dividend Payments
Regarding dividend frequency, "twice-a-year dividends" have become the standard model for major state-owned banks in recent years. Since the new "National Nine Articles" in 2024 explicitly advocated for multiple annual dividends, pre-dividends, and pre-Spring Festival dividends, all six major banks have fully implemented the "interim + final" dual dividend model.
The total interim dividends for 2025 from the six major banks exceeded 200 billion yuan. Taking ICBC as an example, its 2025 interim dividend was 1.414 yuan per 10 shares, with a final dividend of 1.689 yuan per 10 shares, resulting in a total annual dividend of 3.103 yuan per 10 shares.
ABC's annual dividend was 2.495 yuan per 10 shares; CCB's was 3.887 yuan per 10 shares; BOC's was 2.263 yuan per 10 shares; BoCom's was 3.247 yuan per 10 shares; and PSBC's was 2.18 yuan per 10 shares.
Foundations for Sustained High Payouts
The ability of major state-owned banks to sustain high payout ratios is inextricably linked to their robust capital strength and stable profitability. In 2025, the combined assets of the six major banks surpassed 220 trillion yuan, with combined net profits attributable to parent company shareholders reaching 1.42 trillion yuan.
Building on this foundation, the Ministry of Finance injected a total of 800 billion yuan into the six major state-owned banks via special government bonds, completing the first 500 billion yuan tranche in 2025 and initiating the second 300 billion yuan tranche in 2026. The resulting enhancement in capital strength has provided state-owned banks with greater capacity to return profits to shareholders while still meeting regulatory requirements. These factors have laid a solid foundation for the stable and frequent dividend distributions from the major state-owned banks.
Varied Approaches Among Rural Commercial Banks
In contrast to the stability of the major state-owned banks, dividend ratios among listed rural commercial banks show more variation. This reflects the increasing need for listed small and medium-sized banks to balance shareholder expectations for returns, capital regulatory requirements, and their own long-term development.
Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank delivered a relatively strong dividend performance for 2025. The bank distributed a total of 4.195 billion yuan in cash dividends, representing 34.07% of its net profit attributable to parent company shareholders. Since its listing in 2021, its annual cash dividend ratio has consistently remained above 30%, with ratios of 30.1%, 33.91%, and 34.07% for 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.
The 2025 dividend ratios for Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank and Zijin Rural Commercial Bank were also around 30%. Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank distributed a total of 3.645 billion yuan in cash for the year, amounting to approximately 3.209 yuan per 10 shares. Zijin Rural Commercial Bank's annual dividend was 366 million yuan.
However, the dividend ratios of other A-share listed rural commercial banks did not reach 30%. The ten A-share listed rural commercial banks distributed a combined total of 11.211 billion yuan (pre-tax) in cash dividends for 2025.
Additionally, besides implementing multiple dividends, Changshu Rural Commercial Bank, Suzhou Rural Commercial Bank, and Jiangyin Rural Commercial Bank also distributed a bonus share of 0.1 share per share from capital reserves as part of their final dividend distributions.
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