China-funded brokerages “expand their balance sheets” with overseas businesses as the “ranked competition” for building an international top-tier investment bank gets underway

Securities Times reporter Wang Rui Yang Qingwan

As the annual report season arrives, the giants have been “flexing their muscles”—international business revenue has once again become a key highlight of listed brokerage firms’ 2025 performance.

In 2025, CITIC Securities International’s revenue exceeded RMB 23 billion (converted into yuan, same below), and with a total asset size of RMB 468 billion, it has become an indisputable industry leader; Goldman Sachs International’s net profit was RMB 4.47B, accounting for 45.63% of Goldman Sachs’ consolidated net profit. Data show that international business is becoming a new growth pole for brokerage performance, prompting many listed brokerages to significantly increase their investments in international business, with their overseas subsidiaries becoming an important direction for expanding their balance sheets.

With competition intensifying, the international business landscape for Chinese brokerages has also seen new changes. CITIC and CICC continue to execute their internationalization strategy with steady steps; Huatai Securities’ ranking fell due to the sale of its U.S. subsidiary, and it will take time to return to the first echelon. Apart from a few top institutions, Guangdong Holdings (Guangfa) and CITIC Jianyou International have become challengers that cannot be overlooked, with revenue more than doubling.

It is worth noting that Cathay Haitong’s merger and restructuring have been preliminarily completed, and the integration of its two wholly owned subsidiaries in Hong Kong—Cathay Haitong Financial Holdings (holding 73.92% of Cathay Haitong Securities)—has also been set in motion, and the outlook is promising; together, the combined revenue scale of the two will move up another tier in industry rankings. The “ranking battle” to build an international-class investment bank has already begun.

Overseas performance contribution rising

In 2025, CITIC Securities International generated full-year operating revenue of USD 3.3 billion and net profit of USD 900 million, up 48% and 72% year over year, respectively, both reaching historical highs. Converted into yuan, CITIC Securities International’s revenue exceeded RMB 23 billion, nearly twice that of CICC International (which ranks second); its net profit reached RMB 6.29B, comparable to a mid-tier brokerage.

When looking at net profit contribution, CICC International remains the absolute “top” in terms of internationalization. In 2025, the company achieved revenue of RMB 13.36B, and its net profit data accounted for 45.63% of CICC’s consolidated net profit; by comparison, CITIC Securities International’s contribution to group net profit is currently around 21%.

In addition, listed brokerages with relatively high contribution from internationalized businesses also include Huatai Securities. In 2025, Huatai Securities’ total overseas assets exceeded HKD 200 billion, and international business revenue accounted for nearly 19% of the company’s revenue. Of this, Huatai International’s net profit in that year, converted into yuan, was RMB 2.89B, accounting for 17.61% of group net profit. Data show that in 2025, Huatai International’s operating revenue was HKD 9.29B, with both revenue and net profit declining by about 54% year over year. The main reason is that the company’s revenue base in 2024 included one-off gains and losses from the disposal of subsidiaries; after excluding the relevant effects, Huatai International’s 2025 revenue under China’s enterprise accounting standards still increased 23.8% year over year.

Against the backdrop of rapid growth in international business, many brokerages have also been repeatedly injecting capital into their international business subsidiaries. Since 2025, CITIC Jianyou, China Merchants Securities, Huatai Securities, and Guangfa Securities have successively announced plans to inject capital into their Hong Kong subsidiaries; among them, CITIC Jianyou completed a capital injection of HKD 1.5 billion in February this year.

Gao Chao, Chief Analyst for the non-bank financial industry at Kaiyuan Securities, said that overseas business income growth is a highlight for leading brokerages and also a direction for each brokerage to expand their balance sheets. According to statistics, in 2025, the overseas asset growth rates of CITIC Securities, CICC, Huatai Securities, Cathay Haitong, and Guangfa Securities were 31%, 32%, 38% (acquisition factor), 139%, and 78%, respectively.

Industry ranking reshuffled

In 2024, listed brokerages’ international business continued to follow the pattern of “two superpowers” (CITIC and Huatai) and “two strong players” (CICC and Cathay Securities). However, with the implementation of two major events—Huatai Securities’ sale of its U.S. subsidiary and Cathay Securities’ merger with Haitong Securities—the seating arrangement for brokerage international business has also been reordered.

Judging by the net profit scale of Hong Kong subsidiaries, in 2025 the net profits of CITIC Securities International, CICC International, and Huatai International, converted into yuan, were approximately RMB 6.29B, RMB 4.47B, and RMB 2.89B respectively, ranking at the top of the industry. Among them, the performance of CITIC Securities International and CICC International basically continued the growth trend seen previously. Although Huatai International still maintained revenue growth of over 20%, the loss of revenue sources caused by the sale of its U.S. subsidiary still needs time to be developed and offset.

Right after the above three companies is Cathay Haitong Financial Holdings. In 2025, its net profit was about RMB 2.31B, which looks not low. However, dragged down by Haitong International’s 2025 loss of HKD 3.27B, Cathay Haitong Securities’ international business overall has shown a loss. Going forward, how the two international business platforms will integrate and when risks will clear in order to regain momentum will have to be seen.

Apart from these top institutions, Guangdong Holdings (Hong Kong) and CITIC Jianyou International also saw their 2025 revenue double, reaching RMB 2.1B and RMB 1.49B respectively; in particular, CITIC Jianyou International’s net profit surged 178% year over year to RMB 891 million. In addition, Galaxy International Holdings’ 2025 revenue increased 18% year over year to RMB 2.57B, and its net profit grew 62% year over year to RMB 531 million. In fact, these three companies are not reducing their efforts to increase investment in international business—Guangdong Holdings (Hong Kong) had total assets of RMB 106.8 billion at the end of 2025, up about 87%; CITIC Jianyou International and Galaxy International Holdings also saw their total assets at the end of 2025 grow by more than 50% year over year.

Business integration accelerates

Haitong International, whose overseas business share once exceeded one-third, has still been in a risk-clearing stage in recent years due to large losses such as U.S. dollar bonds. In 2025, its net profit loss was HKD 3.27B. However, Cathay Haitong recently disclosed that Haitong International’s cash recovery in 2025 exceeded RMB 1.4 billion, which will accelerate risk-clearing and balance sheet repair.

Meanwhile, Cathay Haitong International’s operating revenue in 2025 increased 41% to HKD 6.23 billion, setting a historical high; after-tax profit jumped 287% to HKD 1.35B.

Cathay Haitong has preliminarily completed the merger and restructuring, and will soon initiate the integration of its overseas subsidiaries.

Its two Hong Kong wholly owned subsidiaries, Cathay Haitong Financial Holdings and Haitong International, recorded operating revenues of HKD 10.24B and HKD 2.16B, respectively, in 2025. Their combined revenue scale exceeds HKD 12 billion, which will move the company up another tier in industry rankings.

At present, Haitong International Holdings has not yet turned losses around; its net assets at the end of 2025 were -HKD 15.53B. However, at the level of businesses such as investment banking, after Cathay Haitong Financial Holdings merges Haitong International, its strength will be greatly enhanced, and it is expected to compete head-to-head with peers such as CICC International, CITIC Securities International, and Huatai International.

Competition intensifies—if you don’t advance, you fall back. In 2025, CITIC Securities continued to advance its internationalization strategy, with its business network spanning 13 countries, deeper Hong Kong full-service coverage, ranking second in the market for IPO underwriting advisory scale, and ranking first in the market for Chinese offshore bond underwriting scale. CITIC Securities has also continuously increased investments in markets such as Southeast Asia, India, Europe, and Australia, and the proportion of international business revenue contribution reached a new high.

CITIC Securities International Chairman Li Chunbo said that in the future, the company will actively expand new product categories and new strategies, strengthen and grow its Hong Kong business; increase resource investment in the Asia-Pacific market to promote steady business development in markets such as Singapore and the UK; and promote a more balanced country-business structure and revenue structure.

Building a benchmark takes long-term effort

In 2025, China’s pace of building international first-class investment banks accelerated, with steps becoming more steady. Rather than quickly “casting a wide net” by rapidly expanding overseas markets, it will focus on Hong Kong as the core, radiating to Southeast Asia and then to Europe and the U.S., creating distinctive businesses mainly based on customer needs, helping Chinese companies “go global” and international capital “come in.”

“Building an international first-class investment bank is a marathon, not a sprint to the finish line. It still requires long-term effort.” said Zhu Jian, Chairman of Cathay Haitong. International top-tier investment banks all have nearly a hundred years of development history, with strong professional capabilities and solid governance structures, and there remains a significant gap between China’s brokerages and international top-tier investment banks.

At the company’s 2025 performance briefing, Zhu Jian acknowledged that it needs to focus on “serving Chinese clients as they go global, and serving overseas clients as they invest in China.” Last year, Cathay Haitong formulated a three-year strategic plan for the future, clearly defining development goals of “leading comprehensively in the domestic market and excelling in international characteristics,” and accelerating the building of a first-class investment bank with international competitiveness and market leadership.

“Building an international first-class investment bank” cannot be achieved overnight, but the internationalization strategy has become a consensus, and internationalization has become a path that top brokerages must compete for.

CITIC Securities President Zou Yingguang said that CITIC Securities will maintain strategic focus, accurately grasp the broader trends in industry development, make good use of policy support from regulators for high-quality brokerages, and firmly advance through three core initiatives—improving quality and efficiency, strengthening competition, and expanding internationally—to drive high-quality development.