In the first quarter of 2026, the private banking business of listed banks continued to expand, but the divergence between different types of banks is accelerating. Among them, CM BANK's private banking client base surpassed 200,000 for the first time, and China CITIC Bank joined the "100,000 client club." Meanwhile, the four major state-owned banks have still not disclosed their specific private banking client numbers.
With the recovery of the A-share and Hong Kong stock markets, the wealth growth of high-net-worth clients, and the deepening transformation of bank retail businesses, private banking is no longer just a high-end segment within wealth management. It is increasingly becoming a crucial tool for commercial banks to compete for client value and strengthen comprehensive financial synergy.
Industry insiders believe that joint-stock banks are challenging the private banking landscape traditionally dominated by large state-owned banks with a more aggressive stance. In contrast, the major state-owned banks are clearly shifting from a "scale competition" to focusing on "ecosystem management" and building comprehensive service capabilities.
CM BANK Becomes First to Join "200,000 Client Club" With the completion of first-quarter reports, private banking data from A-share listed banks has been revealed. The most notable change is that CM BANK has become the first to join the private banking "200,000 client club."
CM BANK's 2026 first-quarter report shows that as of the reporting period, the bank's private banking clients (with monthly average total assets in RMB equivalent of 10 million yuan or more) reached 207,500, an increase of 4.1% from the end of the previous year, making it the first joint-stock bank to enter the "200,000 client club." This signifies that for the first time, a joint-stock bank has joined the high-net-worth client segment long held by the four major state-owned banks: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank.
Looking at data from the past five years, CM BANK's private banking client base has continued to expand. From 2021 to 2025, the numbers were 122,100, 134,800, 148,800, 169,100, and 199,300, respectively, with growth generally remaining in the double digits. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the bank added over 8,000 new clients, officially crossing the 200,000 threshold.
Simultaneously, China CITIC Bank also officially entered the "100,000 client club" in the first quarter of this year. As of the reporting period, its private banking client base exceeded 100,000. Ping An Bank's private banking clients reached 108,200, a 2.5% increase from the end of the previous year, with client Assets Under Management (AUM) exceeding 2 trillion yuan. Bank of Communications had already reached 105,100 clients by the end of 2025.
Thus, the domestic commercial banking "100,000 client club" has expanded to eight members, including the five major state-owned banks—ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, and Bank of Communications—and the three joint-stock banks: CM BANK, Ping An Bank, and China CITIC Bank.
Major State-Owned Banks Continue to Withhold Private Banking Data However, compared to the frequent disclosure of private banking data by joint-stock banks, major state-owned banks remain cautious in their information disclosure.
A review shows that in the 2026 first-quarter reports, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank did not disclose key indicators such as private banking client numbers and AUM. They only described their business transformation directions and service upgrade initiatives. In 2025, ICBC's personal wealth management and private banking fee and commission income were 19.176 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. Bank of China focused on disclosing changes in business structure, mentioning the promotion of trust business development around wealth protection and inheritance needs, with the number of wealth management service trust and charitable trust clients growing by 64% year-on-year.
If compared with previously disclosed data, the scale of major state-owned banks' private banking businesses can still be traced. At the end of 2024, ICBC had 289,000 private banking clients with managed assets of 3.47 trillion yuan. By the end of June 2025, Agricultural Bank of China had 279,000 private banking clients with AUM of 3.5 trillion yuan; China Construction Bank had 265,500 clients and 3.18 trillion yuan; and Bank of China had 216,900 clients and 3.4 trillion yuan.
Currently, major banks are emphasizing the development of ecosystems such as "private banking+," family trusts, charitable finance, and pension finance.
For example, ICBC proposed integrating comprehensive financial solutions to connect client service chains and value chains, promoting digital and intelligent transformation with AI, and focusing on building service systems for scientist and technology innovation entrepreneur client groups. Agricultural Bank of China focused on technology enterprises, "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" enterprises, and rural revitalization client groups, strengthening pension financial planning and wealth inheritance services. Bank of China emphasized global asset allocation and trust business development, with its wealth management service trust and charitable trust client numbers increasing by 64% from the end of the previous year. China Construction Bank focused on advancing tiered client management, strengthening business systems such as family advisory and insurance trust.
According to Xue Hongyan, a special researcher at Jiangsu Bank, joint-stock banks view private banking as a key breakthrough in the retail light-capital transformation. Proactively disclosing data helps strengthen market influence and enhance brand recognition. In contrast, major state-owned banks, relying on their vast client base and comprehensive resources, emphasize deepening existing client relationships and comprehensive financial synergy, showing less sensitivity to pure scale rankings.
Shift from "Competing on Scale" to "Competing on Ecosystem" In fact, the core of private banking competition is shifting from "competing on scale" to "competing on ecosystem."
Over the past decade, the core logic of China's private banking industry relied on wealth growth and the real estate cycle to rapidly accumulate high-net-worth clients, with the industry focus on "land grabbing." Currently, against the backdrop of net value transformation, capital market fluctuations, and the evolving needs of high-net-worth clients, private banking is transitioning from single product sales to building comprehensive service systems around entrepreneurial families.
From the disclosures of listed banks, non-financial services such as "family trusts," "insurance trusts," "legal and tax consulting," "cross-border asset allocation," "pension services," and "medical health" have become new focal points in private banking competition.
Taking China CITIC Bank as an example, it has significantly strengthened its "group army" model in recent years. Leveraging the synergy capabilities of CITIC Group in securities, trust, insurance, and industrial resources, China CITIC Bank is attempting to provide entrepreneurial clients with comprehensive solutions covering "corporate financing + capital operations + family inheritance + cross-border services." Financial reports show that in 2025, the two-way client acquisition through "public-private integration" in CITIC Bank's private banking business increased by nearly 20% year-on-year, and the number of private banking clients acquired through overseas financial services grew by over 70% year-on-year.
Ping An Bank's approach reflects more of its group synergy advantages. Its private banking clients come not only from upgraded retail clients but also from high-end client conversions in insurance, securities, trust, and other sectors. At the same time, Ping An Bank combines insurance products with high-end medical and wellness resources to strengthen risk isolation and wealth inheritance service capabilities.
Simultaneously, some joint-stock banks have begun adjusting their private banking business organizational structures, placing greater emphasis on the professional division between wealth management and private banking. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is a representative example. In 2024, SPDB renamed its original "Private Banking Department" to the "Wealth Management and Private Banking Department," attempting to promote the integration of wealth management and private banking. In April of this year, the bank further split the relevant department into two independent departments: the Wealth Management Department and the Private Banking Department.
Bank of Communications' recent revocation of its private banking specialized license is also seen by the market as an important signal of industry transformation. In recent years, Bank of Communications has gradually integrated private banking into its wealth management system. At the end of 2025, the bank established a new Wealth Management Department at the headquarters level, with the former head of the Private Banking Department concurrently serving as general manager. After revoking the specialized license this year, its private banking business was further incorporated into the bank-wide wealth management coordination system.
Several industry insiders believe that commercial banks' private banking businesses have gradually shifted from the early "land grabbing" stage to a stage of refined operation. Against the backdrop of slowing client growth, banks are placing greater emphasis on client retention, asset accumulation, and the construction of comprehensive service capabilities.
"Currently, high-net-worth clients are no longer satisfied with single wealth management products; they are more concerned with comprehensive needs such as business operations, cross-border asset allocation, tax arrangements, family governance, and wealth inheritance. This means private banking increasingly relies on the bank's overall resource integration capabilities," a senior private banking professional stated.
Comments