# After Two Years at the Helm, Bringing Chongqing Bank to the Trillion-Yuan Mark—Yang Xiuming Deserves Credit

How did AI · Yang Xiuming’s strategic transformation enable the bank’s assets to surpass one trillion yuan?

Produced by | China Visit Network

Reviewed by | Li Xiaoyan

In March 2024, Yang Xiuming, who has been deeply involved with Agricultural Bank of China for nearly 30 years, officially took charge of Chongqing Bank, approaching his two-year anniversary. Faced with multiple challenges—sluggish revenue and profit growth at the time, pressure from non-performing real estate loans, and intensified industry competition—he demonstrated firm strategic resolve by aligning the bank’s development with Chongqing’s industrial upgrade and national regional strategies. He charted a high-quality development path focused on serving the real economy, emphasizing innovation and green finance, while simultaneously increasing scale and efficiency. In the first three quarters of 2025, Chongqing Bank’s total assets hit a historic milestone of over 1.02 trillion yuan, with both revenue and net profit achieving double-digit growth—its best performance in nine years. This strategic decision, often interpreted as a “bold gamble,” is fundamentally a responsibility and foresight of a city commercial bank rooted in its local community, serving the broader national interests, and proactively transforming. The short-term results are remarkable, and the long-term value is promising.

At the outset, Yang Xiuming clearly recognized that the foundation of city commercial banks lies in their local roots, their vitality in industry, and their future in transformation. He abandoned reliance on traditional paths, decisively promoted credit structure optimization, significantly reduced real estate-related loans, and precisely directed resources toward Chongqing’s emerging advantageous industries such as new energy vehicles, integrated circuits, and electronic information. This targeted financial support effectively irrigated the main battlefield of the real economy. This decision resonated with Chongqing’s city strategy to build a Western technological hub and develop a modern industrial system.

Since 2024, Chongqing’s economy has risen to the fourth largest in the country, driven by industries like new energy and intelligent manufacturing, with a sustained growth rate of 5.3% in 2025, fully unleashing the city’s development momentum. Chongqing Bank closely followed this pace, deeply integrating into national strategies such as the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle and the Western Land-Sea New Corridor. In the first half of 2025, it provided nearly 140 billion yuan in credit support to the twin-city economic circle, and its financing balance for the Western Land-Sea New Corridor exceeded 47 billion yuan. Loans for science and technology and green finance grew by over 40% and 20%, respectively—significantly outpacing average loan growth—aligning credit deployment with Chongqing’s manufacturing upgrade and innovation-driven transformation, thus fostering a virtuous cycle of bank development and urban prosperity.

The results of this strategic transformation are vividly reflected in impressive operational data. In the first three quarters of 2025, Chongqing Bank achieved revenue of 11.74 billion yuan, a 10.4% increase year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 4.879 billion yuan, up 10.19%. Both indicators reached their highest growth rates since 2022, marking the bank’s first double-digit simultaneous growth in revenue and profit in nearly nine years. The quarterly performance was even more outstanding, with Q3 revenue up 17.38% year-on-year and net profit attributable to shareholders increasing by 20.54%, demonstrating sustained growth momentum.

Scale expansion and profit stabilization go hand in hand. By the end of Q3 2025, Chongqing Bank’s total assets had grown by 19.39% year-on-year to over 1 trillion yuan, entering the ranks of trillion-yuan city commercial banks. Its net interest margin remained stable at around 1.32%, with interest income increasing by over 15%, providing a solid foundation for profit growth. Both deposits and loans grew steadily, with deposit and loan balances increasing by 16.9% and 18.1%, respectively, steadily increasing market share and maintaining a leading position among local financial institutions. This achievement not only reversed the previous sluggish growth but also restored market confidence in Chongqing Bank’s development.

As a local legal entity bank, Chongqing Bank has always prioritized serving national strategies and supporting the real economy. Under Yang Xiuming’s leadership, the bank focused on five major areas: science and technology finance, green finance, and innovative product and service models, actively cultivating new productivity. Recognizing that tech startups often have high R&D costs, asset-light models, and long cycles, the bank launched specialized products like “Tech Enterprise Fast Loan,” building a full lifecycle financial service system. The balance of loans to tech enterprises continued to rise, effectively solving their financing difficulties.

In green finance, Chongqing Bank established the first ESG digital rating system for enterprises in western China, and implemented the first cross-provincial GEP pledge loan nationwide, using financial innovation to convert ecological value. It also increased support for major infrastructure projects, advanced manufacturing, and inclusive micro and small enterprises, providing tailored services to market entities through “one enterprise, one policy,” stabilizing the economic fundamentals with financial strength. This “local financial serving local development” positioning demonstrates both corporate responsibility and opens broad business opportunities for the bank.

Transformation and development rely on both internal reforms and risk management. Since taking office, Yang Xiuming has promoted 13 key reform initiatives and 60 digital transformation projects, empowering business quality and efficiency through digital means. Technologies such as the “Fengling Smart Evaluation” big data system and RPA automation have optimized credit approval, risk control, and customer service processes, reducing enterprise online banking signing time by 56%, and significantly improving service efficiency and customer experience. Digital transformation not only reduces operational costs but also enhances precise service capabilities for innovation and inclusive finance.

On risk management, Chongqing Bank adheres to compliance principles, continuously improving asset quality. By 2025, the non-performing loan ratio remained within a reasonable range, with sufficient loan loss reserves, strengthening its resilience. The bank steadily advanced disposal and resolution of real estate loan risks, reducing scale and optimizing structure to mitigate traditional sector risks. It also strengthened full-process credit “three checks” and improved internal control systems, safeguarding the bank’s transformation with prudent risk management.

Objectively, during rapid transformation, Chongqing Bank also faces some challenges: a decline in the core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, the need to improve retail and intermediary business proportions, and ongoing enhancement of credit compliance management. These are common issues for city commercial banks experiencing rapid expansion and focus on core businesses, representing both development hurdles and opportunities for growth.

Yang Xiuming and the management team are fully aware: serving the city’s innovation-driven transformation is a long-term strategy, not a short-term gamble; scale expansion must be matched with capital strength and risk control capabilities. Moving forward, the bank will optimize capital replenishment, balance its business structure, strengthen retail and wealth management, and improve compliance governance to address shortcomings and achieve more sustainable, higher-quality development.

From sluggish growth to double-digit increases, from scale pressure to surpassing one trillion yuan, Yang Xiuming has steered Chongqing Bank through two years of strategic transformation, completing a high-quality development turnaround. The so-called “bold gamble” is actually rooted in local responsibility, serving the broader interests, and a proactive, forward-looking approach to change.

Currently, Chongqing is accelerating the construction of a Western technological hub and developing a modern industrial system. The strategies of the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle and the Western Land-Sea New Corridor are advancing in depth, providing a broad stage for Chongqing Bank. Staying true to its “finance for the people” mission, deeply cultivating the local real economy, continuously optimizing its business structure and risk management, Chongqing Bank is poised to write a new chapter for trillion-yuan city commercial banks and contribute more to high-quality financial development in the western region.