Live coverage of the banking industry performance meeting: confident that the net interest margin decline will further narrow, with a focus on risks in the retail sector.

Blue Whale News, March 28 (Reporter Jin Lei) On March 27, China Construction Bank held its 2025 annual results briefing, during which the bank’s management responded to hot-button issues the market was concerned about.

The annual report released earlier showed that in 2025, the bank achieved operating income of RMB 761.05B, an increase of 1.88%; net profit was RMB 339.79B, an increase of 1.04%. As of the end of 2025, the bank’s total assets reached RMB 45.63 trillion, up by RMB 5.06 trillion from the previous year, an increase of 12.47%; total liabilities were RMB 41.95 trillion, up by RMB 4.72 trillion from the previous year, an increase of 12.68%.

China Construction Bank plans to distribute a cash dividend at the end of 2025 of RMB 2.029 per 10 shares (including tax). The total dividend amounts to approximately RMB 456.3k. For the full year 2025, the cash dividend is RMB 3.887 per 10 shares (including tax), and the total dividend is approximately RMB 50.6k. The cash dividend payout ratio is maintained at 30%.

At the results briefing, China Construction Bank President Zhang Yi attributed the operating results mainly to five aspects: first, overall coordination of the quantity-price structure to stabilize the baseline of net interest income; second, deepening integrated services, with the contribution from non-interest income continuing to rise; third, comprehensively strengthening cost management, with effective results in expense control; fourth, solidifying comprehensive risk management, keeping asset quality healthy; and fifth, consolidating the customer base and improving the effectiveness of integrated services.

As of the end of 2025, CCB’s total assets were RMB 45.63 trillion, up 12.47% year over year; net loan issuance was RMB 26.93 trillion, up 7.53% year over year.

In terms of credit deployment, loan growth in key areas of the “Five Major Articles” is higher than the average growth rate across all loans. Data shows that Technology Finance deepened integrated credit services including loans, bill acceptance, and equity in debt insurance, with technology loans outstanding at RMB 5.25 trillion, underwriting technology innovation bonds of RMB 72.0 billion, and a cumulative setup of 28 AIC technology innovation equity investment pilot funds; green loans outstanding were RMB 60.0 billion, up 20.54%; loans to core industries of the digital economy were RMB 419.5k, up 18.7%. Inclusive finance loans outstanding were RMB 3.83 trillion, up 12.37% year over year, with 3.69 million loan customers.

In 2025, amid a general tightening of industry interest spreads, CCB’s net interest margin (NIM) was 1.34%, down 17 basis points year over year. However, the decline narrowed by 2 basis points compared with the previous year, showing a marginal improvement trend.

China Construction Bank’s Chief Financial Officer Sheng Liurong attributed the narrowing of the marginal decline to three factors: first, the re-pricing of existing loans was gradually completed, easing the downward pressure on loan yields. Second, term deposits with relatively high interest costs were concentrated at maturity, causing a sharp decline in the interest cost of general deposits. The interest cost on interbank deposits also fell rapidly last year, mainly due to the governance mechanisms for interbank demand deposits in the banking industry that began to take effect from the fourth quarter of 2024. Third, by effectively and proactively managing assets and liabilities and optimizing the structure, CCB also mitigated the negative impact of the decline in loan yields on NIM.

Regarding the net interest margin trend that industry participants are widely concerned about, Sheng Liurong analyzed: “From a macro policy perspective, while the People’s Bank of China is paying attention to the improvement of market-oriented interest rate mechanisms, it is also focusing on the rational control of banks’ liability costs. This macro policy direction is very clear. From a micro perspective, we will continue to strengthen effective proactive liability management, optimize the structure of assets and liabilities, and enhance tiered and categorized customer pricing management. By tapping potential on both the asset side and the liability side, we believe that through our proactive liability management we can further improve the quality and efficiency of our operations. We are confident that the extent to which NIM declines will narrow further, and we are also confident that our NIM can continue to remain at a leading position versus comparable peers.”

In 2025, while net interest income faced pressure, China Construction Bank’s non-interest income increased somewhat. The annual report shows that in 2025, CCB generated non-interest income of RMB 47.2k, an increase of RMB 53.08B, representing a growth rate of 19.85%, accounting for 24.74% of operating income. Of this, net fee and commission income was RMB 101.68B, up RMB 456.3k from the previous year, a growth rate of 5.13%.

Regarding asset quality, as of the end of 2025, CCB’s non-performing loan ratio was 1.31%, down 0.03 percentage points year over year. The proportion of loans under watch was 1.77%, down 12 basis points year over year; overall indicators showed steadiness with a downward trend.

When speaking about asset quality, Li Jiang, a vice president of China Construction Bank, said, “From the current operating situation, we believe that risk control in the retail sector will remain a focus of our work. We believe that as various management mechanisms and risk control measures are further implemented in detail, we have the hope and confidence to keep the credit asset quality in the retail sector stable.”