Eleven A-share listed banks have released their 2025 performance forecasts, showing an average total asset growth of 11.32%. City commercial banks significantly outperformed joint-stock banks in profit growth.
By February 11, eleven A-share listed banks had disclosed their 2025 performance forecasts, comprising four joint-stock banks, six city commercial banks, and one rural commercial bank. According to the preliminary data, these banks achieved an average year-on-year total asset growth of 11.32%, with average operating revenue growth of 3.30% and average net profit attributable to shareholders growth of 7.83%.
Zheng Qingming, an analyst at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, anticipates that listed banks in 2025 will exhibit "stable revenue and gradually improving profit growth," alongside notable performance divergence. He forecasts that listed banks' operating revenue will increase by 0.9% year-on-year in 2025, while net profit attributable to shareholders will recover to a growth rate of 1.9%.
**Joint-Stock Banks Stabilize** **SPDB and CITIC Assets Exceed 10 Trillion Yuan**
Among the four joint-stock banks that released performance forecasts—Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB), China CITIC Bank, China Merchants Bank, and Industrial Bank—all reported total assets exceeding 10 trillion yuan by February 11.
Specifically, SPDB's total assets reached 10,081.746 billion yuan by the end of 2025, an increase of 619.866 billion yuan from the end of 2024, representing growth of 6.55%. China CITIC Bank's total assets amounted to 10,131.658 billion yuan, up 6.28% from 9,532.722 billion yuan at the end of 2024. China Merchants Bank reported total assets of 13,070.523 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.56%, while Industrial Bank's total assets stood at 11,093.667 billion yuan, growing by 5.57%.
Among these four joint-stock banks, SPDB recorded the fastest growth in net profit attributable to shareholders, achieving 50.017 billion yuan in 2025, an increase of 4.760 billion yuan, or 10.52% year-on-year. This growth follows a high base in 2024, when its net profit attributable to shareholders surged by 23.31%. Among the eleven banks that released forecasts, SPDB ranked fourth in net profit growth for 2025, trailing only Bank Of Qingdao Co.,Ltd., Qilu Bank, and Bank of Hangzhou.
Notably, SPDB's operating revenue, which declined by 1.55% in 2024, turned positive with a 1.88% growth in 2025. The performance forecast also indicated continued improvement in SPDB's asset quality, with both non-performing loan balance and ratio declining. The non-performing loan balance decreased by 1.164 billion yuan to 71.990 billion yuan, while the non-performing loan ratio dropped by 0.10 percentage points to 1.26%. SPDB stated that "asset quality continues to improve, with key risk indicators reaching their best levels in recent years and risk resistance capabilities steadily strengthening."
China Merchants Bank also saw its operating revenue shift from a 0.48% decline in 2024 to a 0.01% increase in 2025.
Dai Zhifeng, an analyst at Zhongtai Securities, noted that the joint-stock bank sector's revenue growth rebounded in 2025, driven by improved revenue growth among major joint-stock banks. Regarding profits, he expects large state-owned banks to maintain stable profit growth, joint-stock banks to potentially return to positive profit growth, and city commercial banks with high revenue growth to remain the sector with the highest profit growth.
**City Commercial Banks Remain High-Growth Sector** **Bank Of Qingdao Co.,Ltd. Emerges as New Growth Leader**
City commercial banks demonstrated superior performance across multiple metrics compared to joint-stock banks. The average total asset growth for the four joint-stock banks was 6.49%, while the six city commercial banks achieved an average growth of 15.1%. Similarly, average operating revenue growth was 0.40% for joint-stock banks versus 5.73% for city commercial banks, and average net profit attributable to shareholders growth was 3.76% for joint-stock banks compared to 11% for city commercial banks.
Bank Of Qingdao Co.,Ltd. led all eleven banks in both total asset growth and net profit attributable to shareholders growth. By the end of 2025, its total assets grew to 814.960 billion yuan from 689.963 billion yuan at the end of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 18.12%.
Beyond asset growth, Bank Of Qingdao Co.,Ltd. delivered outstanding operational performance. Its operating revenue increased by 7.97% year-on-year in 2025, while net profit attributable to shareholders surged by 21.66%, the highest growth rate among the eleven banks. Historical data shows that Bank Of Qingdao Co.,Ltd. has maintained revenue growth around 8% for two consecutive years, with net profit attributable to shareholders growing over 20% annually (revenue and net profit grew by 8.22% and 20.16%, respectively, in 2024).
Ni Jun, chief banking analyst at GF Securities, remarked that Bank Of Qingdao Co.,Ltd.'s 2025 performance represents its best in three years. On a quarterly basis, the bank's revenue grew 18.21% and net profit attributable to shareholders surged 47.79% in the fourth quarter of 2025, likely due to proactive loan placements ahead of the peak season driving high single-quarter performance.
Alongside operational growth, Bank Of Qingdao Co.,Ltd.'s asset quality improved gradually. By the end of 2025, its non-performing loan balance was 3.841 billion yuan, down 32 million yuan year-on-year; the non-performing loan ratio was 0.97%, a decrease of 17 basis points; and the loan loss provision coverage ratio rose by 50.98 percentage points to 292.30%.
Qilu Bank, also based in Shandong province, reported rapid asset growth. Its total assets increased from 689.539 billion yuan at the end of 2024 to 804.381 billion yuan by the end of 2025, a year-on-year growth of 16.65%, ranking second among the eleven banks. The performance forecast also showed that Qilu Bank's operating revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders grew by 5.12% and 14.58% respectively, with the latter also ranking second among the eleven banks.
Besides Bank Of Qingdao Co.,Ltd. and Qilu Bank, Bank of Ningbo, Bank of Nanjing, Bank of Hangzhou, and Xiamen Bank also released their 2025 performance forecasts. Among them, Bank of Nanjing's total assets grew 16.63% year-on-year to 3,022.424 billion yuan, while Bank of Ningbo's total assets increased 16.11% to 3,628.601 billion yuan.
Bank of Nanjing reported a 10.48% year-on-year increase in operating revenue to 55.54 billion yuan and an 8.08% rise in net profit attributable to shareholders to 21.807 billion yuan for 2025. This marks the second consecutive year of robust revenue and profit growth for Bank of Nanjing, following increases of 11.32% and 9.05% in revenue and net profit, respectively, in 2024.
Bank of Ningbo saw its operating revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders grow by 8.01% and 8.13% respectively in 2025, reaching 71.968 billion yuan and 29.333 billion yuan. The net profit growth rate showed a slight improvement compared to the 6.23% growth recorded in 2024.
Bank of Hangzhou and Xiamen Bank also reported double-digit total asset growth. Bank of Hangzhou's total assets grew 11.96% to 2,364.902 billion yuan, while Xiamen Bank's total assets increased 11.1% to 453.099 billion yuan.
However, both banks experienced slower revenue and profit growth in 2025 compared to 2024. Bank of Hangzhou's operating revenue growth slowed to 1.09% from 9.61% in 2024, while its net profit attributable to shareholders growth decelerated to 12.05% from 18.07%. Similarly, Xiamen Bank's revenue growth dipped to 1.69% from 2.79% in 2024, though its net profit attributable to shareholders grew 1.52% in 2025, reversing a 2.60% decline in 2024.
Suzhou Rural Commercial Bank was the only rural commercial bank to release a performance forecast. By the end of 2025, its total assets reached 231.103 billion yuan, up 8.00% from the beginning of the year. Operating revenue grew 0.41% to 4.191 billion yuan, while net profit attributable to shareholders increased 5.04% to 2.043 billion yuan.
**Five Banks Report Growth in Net Interest Income**
Notably, five of the eleven banks—Bank of Ningbo, Bank of Nanjing, Bank of Hangzhou, Qilu Bank, and Xiamen Bank—recorded significant growth in net interest income.
Bank of Ningbo's net interest income for 2025 reached 53.161 billion yuan, up 10.77% year-on-year. Total loans and advances rose 17.43% to 1,733.313 billion yuan, while total deposits increased 10.27% to 2,024.883 billion yuan. The performance forecast indicated a notable decline in Bank of Ningbo's liability costs, with demand deposits accounting for 70.84% of new customer deposits by the end of 2025. The deposit interest rate fell by 33 basis points year-on-year, reaching 1.42% in December 2025, a drop of 44 basis points.
Bank of Nanjing achieved net interest income of 34.902 billion yuan, a surge of 31.08% year-on-year, outpacing its asset growth. Total deposits grew 11.67% to 1,670.789 billion yuan, while total loans increased 13.37% to 1,424.356 billion yuan.
Bank of Hangzhou's net interest income grew 12.83% to 27.594 billion yuan, slightly exceeding its total asset growth. Total loans rose 14.33% to 1,071.876 billion yuan, and total deposits increased 13.20% to 1,440.579 billion yuan.
Qilu Bank disclosed a net interest margin of 1.53% by the end of 2025, up 2 basis points year-on-year. Driven by volume and price increases, its net interest income reached 10.519 billion yuan, growing 16.48%. Total loans increased by 45.692 billion yuan to 382.834 billion yuan, up 13.55%, while total deposits grew 11.37% to 489.531 billion yuan, an increase of 49.989 billion yuan.
Xiamen Bank also reported net interest income of 4.191 billion yuan for 2025, a year-on-year increase of 4.66%.
Dai Zhifeng forecasts that listed banks' net interest income will decline by 0.1% for the full year 2025. By sector, net interest income growth for city commercial banks, rural commercial banks, joint-stock banks, and large state-owned banks is projected at 10.8%, 1%, 0.3%, and -1.8% respectively.
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