In 2025, the six major state-owned banks will collectively earn a net profit of 1.42 trillion yuan.

By staff reporters Yang Jie, Xiong Yue

On the evening of March 30, the Agricultural Bank of China and the Bank of China disclosed their 2025 annual reports. By then, the “performance reports” of all six state-owned banking groups across major industries had been revealed.

In 2025, the key operating indicators of the six major state-owned banks remained steady and well-balanced. Asset quality improved in a stable manner. According to a review by reporters from The Securities Daily, all six banks recorded year-on-year growth in both operating revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company, with net profit attributable to shareholders totaling 1.42 trillion yuan.

In terms of asset size, the six major state-owned banks all achieved steady growth. Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s asset size remained the top, increasing by 9.50% from the end of 2024 to 53.48 trillion yuan at the end of 2025. The asset sizes of Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank both exceeded 40 trillion yuan, at 48.78 trillion yuan and 45.63 trillion yuan, respectively. The Bank of China’s asset size was 38.36 trillion yuan. At the end of 2025, Postal Savings Bank of China and Bank of Communications saw their asset sizes increase by 9.35% and 4.35% respectively from the end of 2024, reaching 18.68 trillion yuan and 15.55 trillion yuan respectively.

For 2025 net profit attributable to shareholders, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China still held the top spot, achieving net profit attributable to shareholders of 368.62 billion yuan, up 0.7% year-on-year. China Construction Bank came next, with net profit attributable to shareholders up 0.99% year-on-year to 338.91 billion yuan. Agricultural Bank of China recorded net profit attributable to shareholders of 291.04 billion yuan in 2025, the largest year-on-year growth rate at 3.20%. The Bank of China’s net profit attributable to shareholders was 243.02 billion yuan, up 2.18% from the end of 2024. Bank of Communications achieved net profit attributable to shareholders up 2.18% year-on-year to 95.62 billion yuan. Postal Savings Bank of China recorded net profit attributable to shareholders of 87.40 billion yuan, up 1.07% year-on-year.

In terms of operating revenue, the Bank of China recorded the largest year-on-year increase last year, up 4.48% year-on-year to 658.31 billion yuan. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of Communications all saw operating revenue growth of more than 2% in 2025 (including 2%), up 2.00%, 2.10%, and 2.02% year-on-year respectively, reaching 838.27 billion yuan, 725.31 billion yuan, and 265.07 billion yuan respectively. In 2025, China Construction Bank and Postal Savings Bank of China achieved operating revenue of 761.05 billion yuan and 355.73 billion yuan respectively, up 1.88% and 1.99% year-on-year.

If revenue growth determines how “fast” banks can run, then asset quality determines how “far” banks can go. While the six major state-owned banks saw steady growth in full-year 2025 performance, their pace of steady and prudent development was even more stable, and asset quality overall remained basically stable. The non-performing loan ratios at the end of 2025 for five banks decreased compared with the end of 2024. Specifically, the Postal Savings Bank of China had the lowest non-performing loan ratio at 0.95%. The Bank of China’s non-performing loan ratio was 1.23%, down 0.02 percentage points from the end of 2024. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications all saw non-performing loan ratios decline by 0.03 percentage points from the end of 2024, to 1.31%, 1.27%, 1.31%, and 1.28% respectively.

In terms of capital adequacy ratios, as of the end of 2025, the Bank of China and Postal Savings Bank of China increased compared with the end of 2024, at 18.85% and 14.52% respectively, which were up 0.09 percentage points and 0.08 percentage points respectively from the end of 2024. China Construction Bank’s capital adequacy ratio was unchanged from the end of 2024 at 19.69%. The capital adequacy ratios of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of Communications declined compared with the end of 2024, but remained at relatively high levels overall, and risks of various types were generally controllable.

In addition, all six major state-owned banks planned to distribute cash dividends for the 2025 interim period end of year, totaling RMB 222.766 billion. Of this total, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China will distribute 60.197 billion yuan, China Construction Bank 53.079 billion yuan, Agricultural Bank of China 45.498 billion yuan, the Bank of China 37.667 billion yuan, Bank of Communications 14.880 billion yuan, and Postal Savings Bank of China 11.445 billion yuan.