On August 28, China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. (600036.SH/03968.HK) released its 2026 interim report, showcasing steady progress with its wealth management revenue climbing 18.44% year-on-year while maintaining its distinctive operational approach.
The bank achieved simultaneous growth in both net interest income and non-interest income. For the first half, total operating revenue reached RMB 1,781.81 billion, up 4.83% year-on-year, while net profit attributable to shareholders grew 2.02% to RMB 764.45 billion. The net interest margin stood at 1.83%, a decline of 5 basis points year-on-year, though the pace of contraction has slowed. Net interest income came in at RMB 1,120.22 billion, representing a 5.60% increase from the prior year period.
On the non-interest income front, the warmer capital markets fueled rapid growth in wealth management fees, lifting total net fee and commission income into positive territory. This drove non-interest income up 3.56% to RMB 661.59 billion. The revenue mix continues to reflect the bank's strategic focus: retail banking contributed RMB 968.20 billion in revenue, up 0.65% and accounting for 54.34% of group revenue, reinforcing its core position. Non-interest income represented 37.13% of total revenue, maintaining a high level within the industry and underscoring the bank's commitment to expanding its asset-light business model. Profitability metrics remained robust, with return on average assets (ROAA) at 1.14% and return on average equity (ROAE) at 13.42%, both keeping pace with industry leaders.
Wealth Management Revenue Surges Nearly 20% Year-on-Year
Benefiting from sustained capital market activity and rising demand for diversified asset allocation among clients, China Merchants Bank generated RMB 241.60 billion in large wealth management revenue during the first half, up 18.44% year-on-year. Wealth management fee and commission income reached RMB 161.92 billion, a 26.53% increase. Product distribution volumes grew strongly across all categories: agency sales of non-money-market public funds hit RMB 4,867.61 billion, jumping 82.73%; trust product sales rose 40.48% to RMB 1,290.15 billion; retail wealth management product balances exceeded RMB 4.5 trillion, while corporate wealth management product average daily balances surpassed RMB 630 billion.
Driven by higher distribution volumes and an optimized product mix, the bank achieved double-digit growth in fee income from wealth management, funds, and trusts. Specifically, wealth management product distribution income rose 10.56% to RMB 50.76 billion, fund agency income climbed 61.40% to RMB 39.35 billion, and trust plan agency income grew 43.76% to RMB 22.47 billion. Responding to clients' wealth preservation and appreciation needs, the bank deepened its wealth management services, with retail client assets under management (AUM) surpassing RMB 18 trillion to reach RMB 18.44 trillion, up 7.96% from the end of last year. The number of clients holding wealth management products increased 4.05% to 66.7169 million, while 12.5771 million clients utilized the bank's "CMB TREE" asset allocation service framework, a 6.98% rise from the prior year-end.
Asset management operations continued to expand steadily. The combined asset management scale of subsidiaries including CMB Wealth Management, China Merchants Fund, CMB Prudential Asset Management, and CMB International reached RMB 4.98 trillion, up 5.29% from the beginning of the year. Asset management fee and commission income totaled RMB 53.70 billion. Custody business also advanced, with total custody assets rising 8.17% to RMB 23.58 trillion, keeping the bank among the industry's top ranks. Custody fee income grew 20.52% to RMB 31.42 billion.
Major Subsidiaries' Combined Assets Surpass RMB 1 Trillion
The interim report reveals that as the bank progresses with its integrated operations strategy, subsidiaries are making increasingly significant contributions. The combined total assets of eight major subsidiaries exceeded RMB 1 trillion, up 10.16% from the end of last year, with their revenue share reaching 12.92% of group total, up 0.36 percentage points year-on-year. Subsidiaries across various business lines maintained strong scale growth: CMB Wealth Management's wealth management product balances reached RMB 2.74 trillion, CMB Financial Leasing delivered RMB 70.494 billion in leasing placements, and CMB Consumer Finance's loan balance stood at RMB 150.959 billion, all ranking among the top in their respective sectors.
International expansion also accelerated. Overseas institutions actively served demand from Chinese enterprises venturing abroad, with total assets growing 7.01% from the prior year-end and operating revenue surging 30.56% year-on-year. Notably, operations in Hong Kong performed well, with revenue climbing 32.79% year-on-year. Within this, CMB Wing Lung Bank saw net profit growth of 55.88%, while CMB International posted a 124.14% increase in net profit.
Over 1,300 Intelligent Scenarios Deployed
Public disclosures indicate that China Merchants Bank's AI system has reached a substantial scale in data utilization and scenario enablement, with continued investment in model iteration, scenario optimization, and ecosystem connectivity. The interim report corroborates this trajectory. During the first half, the bank invested RMB 4.679 billion in information technology, representing 2.99% of parent bank revenue. Its proprietary large-model infrastructure continued to improve, with daily token throughput growing over 78% year-on-year and domain models expanding 40% to 256 from the prior year-end. Enterprise-level knowledge management and application systems progressed steadily, with intelligent scenarios rising 62% to 1,386, covering retail finance, wholesale finance, risk control, operations, and administrative functions. As of June-end, the bank had contributed over 200 core technological achievements to mainstream open-source projects in key large-model infrastructure areas.
Recent developments highlight a shift in the bank's retail service model from "human plus digital" toward "human plus agent." In August, the bank launched "AI Xiaoban," a new AI agent designed to empower partners, complementing "Xiaozhao" for customers and "Xiaozhu" for employees. These three agents work in tandem to form a comprehensive retail intelligent application matrix spanning C-end, B-end, and internal operations, creating greater value for customers and partners. On the wholesale side, the interim report details progress in reshaping client-facing intelligent service systems: "AI Xiaozhao" has served 799,900 corporate clients, while AI-powered customer service and digital humans in institutional scenarios have served 37.665 million person-times.
The report outlines four strategic directions for intelligent transformation: first, maintaining technology investment to align technology with business objectives; second, expanding AI applications to enhance customer experience, internal efficiency, and risk management; third, building an AI-driven organization to reshape workforce capabilities and advance "human plus digital-intelligence" integration; and fourth, prioritizing security by rigorously preventing information technology risks.
Operational Foundation Continues to Strengthen
The bank's stable performance in the first half also rests on its solid operational base. Customer numbers grew steadily, with total retail clients reaching 231 million, up 3.13% from the year-end, and corporate clients rising 6.56% to 3.8603 million. Breakdowns show growth in specialized segments: technology-focused enterprise clients surpassed 200,000, while corporate clients engaged in cross-border foreign exchange transactions exceeded 90,000. On digital channels, the combined monthly active users (MAU) of the CMB Mobile App and Zhangshang Life App reached 124 million, and wholesale online channel MAU grew 12.03% year-on-year to 2.3867 million.
Assets and liabilities expanded steadily. Total assets reached RMB 13.79 trillion, up 5.47% from the prior year-end, with total loans and advances rising 2.69% to RMB 7.45 trillion. Customer deposits surpassed RMB 10 trillion, growing 3.32% from the year-end. Asset quality remained stable as of June-end, with the non-performing loan ratio flat at 0.94% and the provision coverage ratio at 385.10%, keeping both metrics among the industry's strongest.
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