How much differentiation is there among the six major state-owned banks? Performance releases showcase "characteristics" and "innovation."

Each Daily Reporter | Zhang Shoulin    Each Daily Editor | Wei Guan hong

“Aside from the look of their storefronts being different, the businesses of banks are basically the same.” Many industry insiders have pointed to the banking industry’s high degree of homogeneity.

Among six large state-owned banks in the state-owned banking system, that impression is even more pronounced to the outside world.

Recently, the Bank of Communications, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Postal Savings Bank of China have each disclosed their 2025 operating performance in turn, and the management teams of each bank have further interpreted their operating strategies. Overall, the six state-owned banks, based on their own endowments, historical development, strategic positioning, and so on, have each moved toward differentiated development in their operations. So, just how differentiated are they, and what does the differentiated outlook look like?

Based on comprehensive comparisons, under the highly homogeneous nature of their business, the six state-owned banks actually show differences to varying degrees in their distinctive styles, advantages, and strategic planning.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC): Strong overall capabilities

The six banks share a prominent set of commonalities: they are all state-owned large commercial banks, and in day-to-day operations they carry out the political and people-centered nature of financial work. At the same time, each of the six banks naturally formed differences in its business layout processes by combining its own endowments, comparative advantages, strategy management, and so on.

Compared with other banks, ICBC has especially strong overall capabilities. For many years, ICBC’s total assets have remained at the top of the global banking industry. By the end of 2025, at the group level, ICBC’s total assets were 53.48 trillion yuan, becoming the first bank worldwide to break through the 50 trillion yuan threshold in total assets. In 2025, the bank’s net profit reached 534.8k yuan, maintaining a leading position among peers.

Image source: Li Yuwen

ICBC has emphasized improving the quality and efficiency of integrated services, accelerating the construction of an ecosystem-based system, and so on. In recent years, it has moved deeper in advancing GBC (government affairs, corporate, and personal) + foundational projects. In terms of incremental customer growth, both personal and corporate customers have maintained a leading position among peers, and funding sources have remained stable.

Recently, ICBC President Liu Jun, at a performance briefing, stated that capital markets may assign higher valuations to modern financial service industries. This also requires ICBC to open a new path among Chinese financial institutions first—by organically combining an asset-liability balance sheet mainly featuring indirect financing with modern financial services to achieve the goal of building a world-class financial institution.

“Our first goal is to actively expand integrated services,” Liu Jun said. This requires non-commercial business to play an important pillar role, while simultaneously building a modern financial services segment and cross-integrating full lifecycle services with full value-chain services to establish a three-dimensional, systematized, and intelligent financial services matrix.

ICBC’s future differentiated landscape can be glimpsed from its strategic goals. In its strategic goals, the bank proposed building itself into a world-class modern financial institution with Chinese characteristics; in its strategic positioning, it proposed building a powerful “lead goose” among strong institutions.

ICBC Chairman Liao Lin mentioned that ICBC has moved up to Group 3 in the category of Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs). This marks that ICBC has taken a new and solid step toward building a world-class modern financial institution with Chinese characteristics.

China Construction Bank: Fully expanding “land, sea, air, digital routes, bridge and water” infrastructure services

“Strengthen and excel in offset development.” China Construction Bank Chairman Zhang Jinliang clearly put forward this in the performance report he disclosed recently.

Born and prospering because of construction, since its establishment, China Construction Bank has focused deeply on key national construction areas. In recent years, it has developed a series of service brands including “Good Construction Smart Manufacturing” and “Good Construction, Strong Foundations.” Among them, the “Good Construction, Strong Foundations” service brand proposes comprehensively expanding infrastructure services for “land, sea, air, digital routes, bridge and water,” strongly supporting the modern infrastructure system, and continuously enhancing its capability to serve national development.

Image source: The Paper’s Economic Daily

China Construction Bank’s vision is to build an international first-class banking group with the strongest value-creation ability. While consolidating traditional advantages, China Construction Bank has, around its “five major articles,” built differentiated and distinctive advantages, and is working hard to become a leading bank in technology finance.

Housing finance is a traditional strength of CCB. As of the end of 2025, personal mortgage loans were 5.99 trillion yuan, continuing to maintain a leading position in the market. However, against the backdrop of a downturn in the real estate market, CCB’s personal housing finance business faces corresponding pressure.

Recently, at a performance briefing, CCB President Zhang Yi said it would support the advancement of reforms to the foundational systems for商品房 sales and the housing provident fund system, to consolidate the competitiveness of personal housing finance services in the market. With confidence, through a series of measures, it aims to promote the share of incremental retail credit in incremental loans at the whole bank to remain at a leading edge among peers, and to continue tapping into the growth potential of retail credit.

China Construction Bank has a deep presence in the housing market. It has China-Sino Housing Savings Bank, Jianxin Housing Services Co., Ltd., and Jianxin Housing Leasing Private Fund Management Co., Ltd., among others.

Since January 2025, CCB President and Chief Compliance Officer Zhang Yi has also concurrently served as Chairman of China-Sino Housing Savings Bank, reflecting the importance attached to housing finance in CCB’s strategic layout.

Agricultural Bank of China: Service for rural revitalization as a differentiated competitive advantage

By the end of 2025, Agricultural Bank of China’s total assets had reached 48.8 trillion yuan, ranking second among the six major banks. It had 896 million individual customers, continuing to maintain the top position among peers.

Serving rural revitalization is the Agricultural Bank of China’s main responsibility and core business, and it is also a strategic focus, as well as a differentiated competitive advantage.

Image source: The Paper’s Economic Daily

“Remember that Agricultural Bank of China is called ‘Agriculture,’ and by focusing on the main business of serving the ‘three rural issues,’ consolidate the fundamental base for business development.” Recently, Agricultural Bank of China President Wang Zhiheng said the bank will firmly shoulder the responsibilities and mission of serving comprehensive rural revitalization and supporting the building of an agricultural powerhouse. It will continuously improve the quality and efficiency of financial services for the “three rural issues,” and keep building a differentiated competitive advantage.

The bank’s county-level loans have seen year-on-year incremental growth exceeding 1 trillion yuan for four consecutive years. By the end of 2025, the balance reached 10.9 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 40% of loans within China. County-level deposit balances were 14.38 trillion yuan, up 1.23 trillion yuan from the end of the previous year; the contribution to the bank’s incremental deposits was more than 52%.

Among the bank’s 500k branches nationwide (network outlets), 56% are located in county towns and townships. It is the only state-owned bank in which county-level outlets are fully covered.

In terms of organizational structure, Agricultural Bank of China leverages the advantage of a dual-wheel drive of the “Three Rural Issues Finance Department + Inclusive Finance Department.” As of the end of 2025, the balance of inclusive loans was 4.35 trillion yuan, adding 749.9 billion yuan; the balance of inclusive small and micro enterprise loans was 3.93 trillion yuan, increasing by 700.7 billion yuan. This January, the balance of these loans was the first among peers to break through 4 trillion yuan. For inclusive loans—both the balance and increment—the bank has maintained the top position among peers for three consecutive years.

In the future, the bank will further promote the relocation of inefficient outlets to towns and townships, accelerate the sinking of financial services into rural areas, and further enhance the capacity to provide financial services from towns to villages.

Bank of Communications: Highlighting advantages in building Shanghai’s “main ground”

Bank of Communications is one of the oldest banks in China. With “building a world-class banking group with distinctive advantages” as its target, the bank is currently focusing on developing four main business segments with distinctive characteristics: inclusive finance, trade finance, technology finance, and wealth finance.

As the only state-owned large commercial bank whose headquarters are currently located in Shanghai, Bank of Communications leverages Shanghai’s advantages in building its “main ground.” It focuses on high-level opening-up and the construction of Shanghai’s “five centers,” and, around initiatives such as RMB internationalization and integrated onshore-offshore development, it has been exploring and piloting new products and new models in areas including trade finance, cross-border finance, and offshore finance.

Image source: Li Yuwen

For cross-border trade, the bank has built the “JiaoYin HangMao Tong” platform, and in 2025 its cross-border business revenue increased year over year by 7.61%.

Bank of Communications leverages its endowment advantages and has deeply integrated into the construction of centers for global allocation of RMB assets, risk management centers, and financial factor markets; it has built offshore finance and cross-border finance characteristics.

In addition, the bank has deeply integrated into the construction of Shanghai’s financial market, consolidating and expanding its leading advantages in financial market business. In 2025, it achieved 1.65 trillion yuan in transactions through Bond Connect and Swap Connect. In the interbank factor markets, its agency clearing and settlement volume for securities and futures factor markets remained among the top in the market.

By the end of 2025, in the Shanghai region, Bank of Communications’ growth in RMB deposits and loans was approximately 6% and 16%, respectively; in the Yangtze River Delta region, its growth in RMB deposits and loans was approximately 6.3% and 12%, respectively. The contribution of profits from institutions in the Yangtze River Delta region accounted for nearly half of the group’s total.

The management of JiaoTong Bank said that going forward it will continue to maintain strategic determination in building Shanghai’s “main ground,” continue to increase resource tilt toward Shanghai and key areas in the Yangtze River Delta, maintain relatively high growth rates in the size of deposits and loans in the Yangtze River Delta region, and steadily improve profitability and profit contribution.

Bank of China: The “front runner” in serving high-level opening-up

Bank of China is positioned as the “front runner” in serving high-level opening-up, and is the Chinese bank with the highest degree of globalization.

In 2025, at the group level, Bank of China achieved non-interest income of 219.2 billion yuan, up 19.2% year over year. The contribution share of non-interest income exceeded 33%.

Image source: Zhang Shoulin

Bank of China has firmly and unwaveringly taken globalization as its core development strategy and top priority. In 2025, the contribution of total profit from overseas banks and overseas comprehensive operation companies continued to rise to 27.99%.

Bank of China has abundant globalized talent reserves. Personnel at overseas institutions reached 25k, and it has established an expatriate talent reserve pool of more than 8,000 people, reserving specialized professionals in multiple smaller languages.

“Globalization is the gene that Bank of China is born with and the foundation of its century-plus operations. It is also the biggest differentiated development advantage compared with other Chinese banks,” Bank of China President Zhang Hui said recently. Since the bank was founded more than 114 years ago, from the moment it was established, Bank of China has taken the international business of “deposit, remittance, and exchange” as its main responsibility and core business, and this strategy has never changed for more than 100 years.

Looking ahead, he said that, currently, the RMB has become China’s largest settlement currency for external receipts and payments, as well as the world’s third-largest trade financing and payment currency. Corporate willingness to use RMB in transactions continues to strengthen. Bank of China’s business growth in cross-border RMB payments, RMB financing, panda bonds, and so on has entered an important window period.

Postal Savings Bank of China: Nearly 40k business outlets

One of the features of Postal Savings Bank of China is that it has nearly 40k business outlets. “With a powerful network—so many in number, so deeply reaching down, and so tightly laid out—this is unique in China’s banking industry.” Regarding the特色 of Postal Savings Bank of China, President Lu Wei mentioned at a performance briefing that the bank has a massive customer base of 680 million accounts, ranking fourth in the industry, and it is spread across both urban and rural areas, so to speak, a huge “treasure trove.”

Image source: Zhang Hong

Postal Savings Bank of China keeps its定位 of serving the “three rural issues,” urban and rural residents, and small and micro enterprises. Relying on its unique model of “self-operated + agency” and its resource endowments, it is one of the leading large retail banks in China.

“Retail finance has a very solid foundation. As of the end of 2025, personal customer assets under management (AUM) reached 18.3 trillion yuan, up 9.64%.” Lu Wei said.

Postal Savings Bank of China’s prior strategic goal was to use financial technology to empower high-quality development, accelerate business model transformation, build an intelligent risk control system, enhance value-creation capability, and build a leading digital ecosystem bank for serving rural revitalization and new-type urbanization.

For future development, Postal Savings Bank of China Chairman Zheng Guoyu said it will focus on its core business, strengthen and optimize and grow financial business for the “three rural issues,” urban and rural residents, and small and micro enterprises. It will coordinate with the advantages of the postal group’s commercial flow, logistics, capital flow, and information flow to provide specialized integrated services, laying the foundation for the advantages and brand of Postal Savings Bank of China.

Cover image source: AIGC