Everbright Bank Vice President: The overall asset quality of retail real estate-related loans is controllable.

On March 31, Qi Ye, deputy president of China Everbright Bank, said at the bank’s 2025 performance briefing that in 2025 the overall asset quality of non-performing assets generated is steady. Judging from newly arising non-performing asset situations, in the corporate sector the overall scale of non-performing asset generation has declined compared with the previous year. It has increased the clearance of inventory real-estate risks, and promoted platform-based debt resolution in a steady and orderly manner, while implementing rollover of loans without repayment of principal for small and micro enterprises.

She said that China Everbright Bank has actively taken measures such as concentration control, large-amount look-through, early-warning monitoring, and proactive exits to strengthen active management of existing assets. In managing newly added credit business, through the combination management of “four measures integrated into one” (industry guidance, marketing guidance, approval guidance, and a whitelist), it optimized the credit structure and reduced risk generation. The results are obvious.

Regarding retail loans, Qi Ye said that the quality of loans related to real estate and consumer credit assets mainly in the form of credit cards is under pressure. China Everbright Bank has also clearly identified this as a key area, set up dedicated teams, established mechanisms, and tilted resources; with a wide range of measures, it strengthened management and resolution, and this year also produced positive results. On one hand, it tightly controlled the entry gate: around regional selection and customer rating, it formed differentiated entry strategies and mortgage/ collateral-to-value ratio management, strengthened due diligence and anti-fraud management, standardized the management of cooperating institutions, and controlled newly added risks at the source. On the other hand, it strengthened overall coordination in the form of dedicated teams, supplemented strength, and improved a full-process post-loan management system. In terms of risk-control approaches, it established “five-layer barriers”—prevention, interception, collection and recovery, guidance, and de-escalation/diffusion. In terms of model innovation, it increased litigation-based collection and investigation efforts as well as multiple real-estate disposal models. In terms of resource allocation, it increased investment in manpower and financial resources. Through a series of measures, risk management and control for retail real-estate-related loans achieved phased results. Its overall asset quality is controllable.

Regarding the credit card business, Qi Ye said that over the past year, non-performing asset generation for credit cards has been stable with a slight decline, and risk governance has achieved initial results. The governance results this year have made China Everbright Bank firmly confident in the stability and positive trend of its asset quality, and they also lay the foundation for future development.

By the end of 2025, China Everbright Bank’s non-performing loan ratio was 1.27%, up 2 BP from the beginning of the year.

When talking about the reasons for negative revenue growth in 2025, Liu Yan, deputy president and chief financial officer of China Everbright Bank, said: first, the net interest margin narrowed somewhat. Since 2024, LPR interest rates have been lowered, and coupled with adjustments to interest rates on existing residential mortgage loans, the loan-side yield in 2025 was affected. Meanwhile, the pace of deposit interest rate decreases was slower than that of loans, so the net interest margin narrowed year over year, constraining growth in interest income. Second, other income declined in phases. In 2024, bond market interest rates fell significantly, so the base for fair value gains on invested assets was relatively high. But in 2025, bond market interest rates overall rose, and fair value losses on invested assets emerged to a certain extent, leading to a decline in other income. Third, overall development and safety. China Everbright Bank increased efforts to resolve business risks related to operations and to promote operational transformation. Credit card interest and fee income faced phased pressure, which had some impact on the growth of the bank’s interest and fee income. While revenue declined, the bank mitigated downward pressure on profit by strengthening cost control: full-year operating expenses decreased by 8.9%, with the decline rate greater than the revenue decline.

Liu Yan said that 2026 is a year to consolidate the foundation. China Everbright Bank will adhere to development with distinct positioning, build distinctive advantages, increase income, control costs, strengthen risk control, thicken support for related resources, and promote a stabilization and rebound in the level of profitability.

The Paper reporter Chen Yueshi

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