On March 27, CM BANK released its 2025 annual report, showing a return to dual growth in both operating revenue and net profit. Beyond the full-year performance, the management's strategic thinking on operations has also drawn significant external attention. Notably, CM BANK's Chairman Miao Jianmin, in his annual report message, emphasized for the first time the importance of "prioritizing the strengthening of subsidiaries."
Although the related section was brief, it signaled a clear shift: CM BANK is increasing its focus on subsidiaries within its ecosystem, with defined measures and objectives. The bank aims to optimize mechanisms, increase investment, and enhance support to bolster subsidiaries' core capabilities in areas such as asset organization, investment research management, product development, and client services, striving to elevate their operational contributions.
What is the extent of subsidiaries' contributions to CM BANK's performance? According to the annual report, as of the end of 2025, the total assets of CM BANK's major subsidiaries reached 952.839 billion yuan, an increase of 11.43% from the end of the previous year. Their annual operating revenue accounted for 12.26% of the group's total, up 1.97 percentage points year-on-year.
The "major subsidiaries" category includes eight entities: CM Wing Lung Bank, CMB International, CMB Financial Leasing, China Merchants Fund, CMB Wealth Management, CMB Europe, CMC Magnetics Asset Management, and CMB Investment. Details are as follows:
- CM Wing Lung Bank, established in 1933, reported total assets of 526.542 billion Hong Kong dollars at the end of 2025, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 4.292 billion Hong Kong dollars. - CMB Financial Leasing, founded in 2008, had total assets of 325.298 billion yuan and a net profit of 4.407 billion yuan. - CMB International, established in 1993, recorded total assets of 102.036 billion Hong Kong dollars and a net profit of 4.035 billion Hong Kong dollars. - CMB Wealth Management, launched in 2019, reported total assets of 26.738 billion yuan and a net profit of 2.726 billion yuan. - China Merchants Fund, founded in 2002, had total assets of 15.402 billion yuan and a net profit of 1.438 billion yuan. - CMC Magnetics Asset Management, established in 2020, recorded total assets of 1.266 billion yuan and a net profit of 125 million yuan. - CMB Europe, started in 2021, reported total assets of 570 million euros and a net profit of 763,400 euros. - CMB Investment, founded in 2025, had total assets of 15.047 billion yuan, with no profit data available for the year.
Within CM BANK's internal vertical comparison, the asset growth rate of major subsidiaries exceeded the group's overall asset growth by 3.87 percentage points. CM Wing Lung Bank, CMB Financial Leasing, and CMB International saw net profit increases of 87.26%, 17.85%, and 208.72% year-on-year, respectively, highlighting subsidiaries' role as a driving force behind the group's total asset and net profit growth. In a horizontal peer comparison, CM BANK's subsidiaries and joint ventures contributed nearly 20 billion yuan to the group's net profit, a figure that leads significantly among joint-stock commercial banks, underscoring CM BANK's top-tier integrated operations within the sector.
Subsidiaries' operational efficiency continues to improve. Specifically, CM Wing Lung Bank is CM BANK's wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary. Under the strategic push to accelerate internationalization, CM Wing Lung Bank has deepened its operational service system focused on "establishing a foothold in Hong Kong, serving the Greater Bay Area, and connecting globally." Its differentiated advantages in wealth management, capital markets, asset custody, and cross-border finance in the Hong Kong market have become increasingly prominent, with flagship cross-border wealth management products like the "Southbound Connect" experiencing explosive growth. As a result, CM Wing Lung Bank achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 4.292 billion Hong Kong dollars in 2025, a significant increase of 2 billion Hong Kong dollars year-on-year. Its total assets under management for retail clients reached 653.793 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 22.14% from the end of the previous year. It also won the "Star of Hong Kong" award from Global Finance magazine for the second consecutive year, marking a leap in operational quality.
CMB Financial Leasing is CM BANK's wholly-owned subsidiary engaged in financial leasing. Affected by geopolitical tensions, tariff policies, and other factors, the leasing industry faced complex external challenges in key business areas. Amid relatively severe conditions, CMB Financial Leasing adhered to its "specialization, internationalization, and digitalization" strategy, building a financial leasing service system centered on six emerging industries: new energy, new infrastructure, new technology, new mobility, smart manufacturing, and new materials. Its annual leasing business volume reached 108.389 billion yuan, ranking among the top in the industry, with a net profit of 4.407 billion yuan, an increase of 667 million yuan year-on-year, demonstrating growing operational resilience.
CMB International is CM BANK's wholly-owned investment banking platform in Hong Kong, covering corporate finance, global markets, structured finance, wealth management, and asset management. In 2025, CMB International capitalized on the recovery in capital markets, completing 54 Hong Kong IPO underwriting deals and 13 Hong Kong IPO sponsorship deals, ranking second and fourth in the Hong Kong market, respectively. It maintained its leading position in Hong Kong IPO underwriting and received the "2025 Hong Kong IPO Sponsor Golden Bull Award." Its annual net profit reached 4.035 billion Hong Kong dollars, a substantial increase of 2.728 billion Hong Kong dollars year-on-year, further solidifying its operational efficiency and industry standing.
Other subsidiaries also showed notable achievements in their respective fields. According to the annual report and public information, CMB Wealth Management continued to enhance its investment research capabilities aimed at achieving absolute returns, deepening its focus on equity-linked products, and building an organization-wide asset strategy-driven system. By the end of 2025, the scale of equity-linked products reached 389.62 billion yuan, up 80.8% from the end of the previous year. Per United Smart Rating data, its market share was approximately 35%, an increase of 4.8 percentage points year-on-year. China Merchants Fund successfully launched several innovative projects in 2025, including the industry's first performance-based floating fee products, the first batch of sci-tech innovation bond ETFs, and the first batch of sci-tech composite index ETFs. Its ETF business doubled, with 18 new ETFs and feeder funds established during the year. CMC Magnetics Asset Management continued to leverage its strengths in macro asset allocation and its management capabilities in alternative and portfolio asset management products, supporting integrated investment and commercial banking services for clients.
The essence of transitioning toward integrated operations. It is evident that CM BANK's subsidiaries vary significantly. For instance, CM Wing Lung Bank's total asset size is comparable to that of CM BANK's larger branches. In contrast, CMB Investment, established less than half a year ago, has seized policy opportunities from the outset, showing immense growth potential. Zheshang Securities previously noted in a report that the market-oriented mechanisms of joint-stock banks, combined with AIC licenses, can more easily enhance the advantages of integrated operations.
So-called "integrated operations" represent a strategic choice for commercial banks in an era of narrowing interest margins and disintermediation of financing. Ultimately, from a financial statement perspective, this translates to further diversification of revenue sources and sustained strengthening of operating revenue resilience.
Over the past two years, CM BANK President Wang Liang has publicly discussed the bank's approach to integrated transformation, highlighting three competitive strengths. First, CM BANK has multiple licensed subsidiaries, with credit card and capital transaction businesses also operating as licensed financial institutions, maintaining strong development momentum and leading positions in the industry. Second, the bank has built competitive advantages in niche areas such as wealth management, asset management, investment banking, and leasing. Third, subsidiaries and the parent bank collaborate to provide diversified services to clients, forming a cohesive competitive edge.
This undoubtedly creates a win-win situation for both CM BANK and its clients. By enhancing service capabilities and competitive advantages, and strengthening synergies, CM BANK delivers high-quality, efficient integrated financial services. For example, CMB Investment can enhance coordination with various entities within the parent bank; it can also leverage the unique advantages of the China Merchants Group's integration of industry and finance, strengthening ties with the group's investment segment to improve efficiency in serving technological innovation and new productive forces. Meanwhile, CM BANK broadens its revenue streams through its licensing advantages. As a multi-licensed, modern commercial banking group, CM BANK's business landscape spans commercial banking, financial leasing, funds, insurance, wealth management, consumer finance, overseas investment banking, and more. Diversifying revenue sources to navigate an uncertain external environment is precisely the core of CM BANK's strategy to enhance operational resilience.
Comments