On March 30, financial news reported that China Merchants Bank held its 2025 performance briefing today. According to the annual report, the bank's net interest margin decreased by 11 basis points year-on-year to 1.87%. Peng Jiawen, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Board Secretary, stated that the bank's interest margin performance for the full year exhibited two main characteristics: first, although the net interest margin continued to narrow, the rate of decline was significantly smaller compared to 2024; second, the interest margin showed a quarter-on-quarter rebound in the fourth quarter.
Peng Jiawen indicated that this stabilization trend was attributable to the bank's ongoing efforts in asset-liability management. On one hand, the bank strictly implemented self-regulatory requirements related to deposit rate reductions, reasonably managed loan pricing, and promoted gradual improvements in pricing levels. On the other hand, it continued to optimize its asset structure by increasing the proportion of high-yield assets such as credit, actively promoting the growth of retail loans, and reducing low-yield assets like bills to optimize the overall asset portfolio.
Regarding the interest margin trend for 2026, Peng Jiawen stated that the overall assessment is that the net interest margin will continue to narrow, but the extent of the narrowing is expected to be better than in 2025. Against this backdrop, China Merchants Bank has made a series of asset-liability management arrangements aiming to achieve three objectives: first, to continuously reduce the rate of interest margin narrowing; second, to strive for interest margin stabilization in the second half of the year, barring major policy changes in the external environment; and third, to maintain a leading net interest margin level within the industry.
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