CITIC Bank, with total assets exceeding 10 trillion yuan, has initiated a significant restructuring of its technology division.
Following the bank's annual results presentation last month, Vice President Gu Lingyun stated that CITIC Bank aims to become a leading digital bank in the industry by focusing on four key areas: optimizing organizational operations, enhancing data utilization, integrating artificial intelligence across all functions, and strengthening security measures. Recent developments indicate these changes are now underway. According to industry sources, CITIC Bank has just completed an organizational restructuring of its technology line: the "Information Technology Management Department" has been renamed the "Financial Technology Department," while personnel from the former "Big Data Center" have been integrated into the Software Development Center, and a new "Data Management Center" has been established.
This represents the most substantial restructuring of the bank's technology line since the previous adjustment in early 2022. That earlier reorganization established a "one department, three centers" structure by creating a first-level department—the Big Data Center—alongside the existing Information Technology Management Department, Software Development Center, and Technology Operations Center.
The latest organizational changes to CITIC Bank's information technology line are extensive, involving adjustments to the names of core departments, personnel assignments, and functional responsibilities.
Since 2022, the bank's information technology structure had consisted of the "one department, three centers" model. The "one department" referred to the Information Technology Management Department, which has now been officially renamed the Financial Technology Department. This department serves as the coordinating body responsible for the top-level design of the bank's overall digital construction. It houses a Digital Transformation Office, led by the bank's president, with various vice presidents heading specialized committees to coordinate and advance the bank's digital transformation and upgrading.
Liu Liangjun heads the Financial Technology Department. He assumed the role in May 2024, succeeding Kou Guan, who returned to serve as president of Baixin Bank. Liu Liangjun, a veteran of CITIC Bank's technology line with strong professional capabilities, has previously served as Deputy Head of the Information Technology Management Department, General Manager of the Software Development Center, and General Manager of the Big Data Center.
Regarding the adjustments to the "three centers," personnel from the Big Data Center have been transferred to the Software Development Center. A new "Data Management Center" has been established, incorporating the Data Management Office from the Head Office's Financial Accounting Department. The Big Data Center, established as a first-level department in early 2022, was responsible for consolidating and managing the bank's data architecture, data platforms, data tools, and other technical resources, with a team of nearly a thousand people.
Currently, Chi Kun serves as General Manager of the Software Development Center, Zhang Ming as General Manager of the Big Data Center, and Jiang Huaishen as General Manager of the Technology Operations Center. Following the restructuring, it remains to be officially announced whether Zhang Ming will directly assume the role of General Manager of the Data Management Department.
The practice of effectively leveraging data within business operations has been long emphasized at CITIC Bank. The bank promotes agile organizational transformation within its technology functions and deepens the integration of business, technology, and data, advancing domain-based reforms to break down barriers between technical and business departments.
Furthermore, CITIC Bank has established a separate, internet-style technical career track for technology professionals, encouraging talented and innovative individuals to stand out and grow rapidly. The bank has set up a major innovation special reward fund to encourage original and unique innovations. It has also implemented a specialized incentive mechanism for intellectual property, linking the creation, protection, and application of IP comprehensively to individual rewards, penalties, and promotions. Mechanisms for innovation incubation, "posting rewards for solutions," internal competition, and error tolerance have been established.
Last year, the bank's information technology investment reached 9.641 billion yuan, accounting for 4.54% of its operating revenue. As of the end of the reporting period, CITIC Bank had 5,807 technology personnel, representing 8.79% of its total staff. The vitality of technological innovation continues to increase, with the bank obtaining a cumulative total of 496 patent authorizations, a growth of 36.26% compared to the end of the previous year.
In November 2025, Liu Liangjun, then General Manager of the Information Technology Management Department, authored an article in "China Financial Computer" outlining the bank's digital transformation achievements during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, summarized as follows:
Organizationally, the bank implemented a domain responsibility system, integrating technology and data teams into frontline business operations. It established a Digital Transformation Office led by top management and built a four-level technology service closed loop, incubating several high-value digital products such as Tianyuan Treasury.
Technologically, CITIC Bank took the lead in completing the distributed architecture transformation of its core business systems, achieving 100% replacement of core servers and databases with domestic chips. It resolved the challenge of handling rare characters in names and open-sourced the solution free of charge. The bank built a cloud-native technology foundation, with a system containerization rate exceeding 90%, and pioneered service tools related to structured deposits.
Regarding data, the bank established a "data lake-house" integrated big data foundation, accumulating over 1.55 million data assets. The self-service rate for business users utilizing data exceeded 40%, and over 1,800 automated service scenarios were implemented, making it the first joint-stock commercial bank to obtain the DCMM Data Management Capability Maturity Model Level 5 certification.
In cutting-edge applications, the bank constructed an AI foundation combining "large models and small models," empowering more than 1,600 business scenarios. Its blockchain products achieved significant results, with related transaction platforms exceeding 1.5 trillion yuan in scale, and some systems were promoted to central state-owned enterprises. For security, the bank completed a multi-data center layout, achieved 100% cloudification of infrastructure, and strengthened business continuity assurance.
Regarding the future development of CITIC Bank's digital banking initiatives, Vice President Gu Lingyun emphasized the need to focus on four areas: First, further streamline organizational operations by continuously upgrading the domain system, promoting deep integration of business, technology, data, and intelligence, forming more digital integration teams that respond quickly to market demands, and deepening industry-academia-research collaboration to jointly tackle core AI technologies. Second, improve data utilization by steadily advancing the "Data Element X" initiative, building a high-quality data foundation, and shifting work patterns from reliance on experience to being driven by data, truly making data flow within business operations. Third, integrate artificial intelligence into every corner by fully implementing the AI action plan, directly led and coordinated by senior management, aiming to渗透 AI into every business decision and operational activity within two years. By the end of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the goal is to achieve AI-driven reshaping of over 90% of core business processes, completing the transition from AI-assisted to AI-native operations. Fourth, strengthen the security barrier by making moderately advanced investments in intelligent computing power, introducing new security technologies, and ensuring the safety, reliability, and controllability of AI applications.
It is evident that the first two objectives are being implemented through the current organizational restructuring. Further developments regarding this joint-stock bank's new approaches to AI application will be subject to ongoing observation.
Comments