Prioritizing Stability, Committing to Professional Practice | Zhejiang Merchant Bank Holds 2025 Annual Performance Presentation

Recently, Zhejiang Merchants Bank announced its 2025 performance. Under the guidance of long-termism, the bank remains committed to strategic focus, effectively responds to cyclical fluctuations, and maintains overall stability in various operational indicators: In 2025, Zhejiang Merchants Bank’s total assets reached 3.48 trillion yuan, a 4.68% increase from the end of the previous year; achieved operating income of 34.8k yuan, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 62.51B yuan; the non-performing loan ratio further decreased by 0.02 percentage points, with asset quality steadily improving, showing a downward trend for four consecutive years, and operational efficiency meeting expectations, fully demonstrating resilience in development.

On March 31, Zhejiang Merchants Bank held its 2025 performance briefing, marking the first public communication between the new management team and investors, analysts, and media. Chairman Chen Haiqiang, Acting President Lü Linhua and other management members attended the meeting, engaging in in-depth discussions on strategic direction, operational strategies, and market focus on Zhejiang, thoroughly explaining the operating logic of “stability first, professional governance,” and conveying firm confidence in following banking industry laws and pursuing high-quality development.

At the briefing, management specifically elaborated on the profound connotation of Zhejiang Merchants Bank’s logo, which is an integrated fusion of a jade cong and an abacus. The jade cong carries a thousand-year civilization, and the abacus embodies commercial wisdom. The symbol signifies strict rules, precise books, and a meticulous abacus, serving as the solid foundation for Zhejiang Merchants Bank’s steady and far-reaching development. Management solemnly pledged to resolutely implement the strategic deployments of party committees and governments at all levels, establish and practice correct performance views, uphold the cultural philosophy of “seeing actions, seeing hearts, seeing the future”: Seeing actions means being pragmatic and prompt, vigorously promoting the “Six Work Styles,” tackling difficulties to accomplish tasks; seeing hearts means treating others with sincerity, working in unity, staying true to original intentions, and providing warm services; seeing the future means drawing a blueprint to the end, adhering to long-termism, accompanying clients’ growth, and creating sustainable long-term value for all parties.

Strategic Foundation: Adhering to stability first and maintaining strategic focus

A blueprint for continuous implementation

This year marks the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the beginning of Zhejiang Merchants Bank’s “Five-Five” plan. Standing at a new starting point, the bank remains unwavering in its vision to “build a first-class commercial bank,” adheres to the “deepening Zhejiang” strategy, and establishes the five-character action principle of “stability, progress, innovation, reform, and excellence,” avoiding reckless moves and overreach, continuously inheriting and promoting, forming consistent strategic resolve and proactive action.

Based on this, Zhejiang Merchants Bank clarifies four strategic paths: “management-led, service-oriented, technology-driven, and talent-empowered,” aiming to build a sustainable development model of “low risk occupation, high-quality assets, and refined management,” responding to external uncertainties with the certainty of its own development. This not only reflects the bank’s deep commitment to establishing and practicing correct performance views but also embodies the value transmission of long-term development.

In 2025, the new management team, aligned with industry trends, will lead the entire bank to comprehensively initiate the construction of a “five-in-one” management system characterized by standardization, refinement, empowerment, systematization, and scientific approach. The reform direction of strengthening the head office, optimizing branches, and solidifying sub-branches will be clarified, promoting tangible progress in development. The effectiveness of refined operations on the asset and liability sides is evident, with liabilities continuously reducing deposit interest rates—average deposit interest paid decreased by 32 basis points year-over-year, deposits in Zhejiang province surpassed 630 billion yuan, ranking first among joint-stock banks for the first time; on the asset side, efforts focus on improving service quality and efficiency, with half of new loans directed toward science and technology innovation, green finance, and inclusive finance, and the net interest margin for the year reaching 1.60%, with a significant narrowing of decline compared to the previous year.

Currently, Zhejiang Merchants Bank is deepening comprehensive customer-centered operations, implementing the “Revitalize Core and Strengthen Foundation” project, promoting the transformation of technology from backend support to operational empowerment. Meanwhile, it improves talent incentive and growth mechanisms, fostering a “people-oriented” entrepreneurial environment, avoiding short-term gains at the expense of risk or future sustainability, and building a solid foundation for steady progress toward becoming a “first-class commercial bank.”

Operational Strategy: Adhering to “professional governance, expert management”

Steady operation following banking development laws

In 2025, Zhejiang Merchants Bank achieved a smooth transition between the old and new leadership teams. The new management team upholds the philosophy of “professional governance, expert management,” following banking industry laws, and insists on professional judgment, decision-making, and operation. They proposed the “1155” operating strategy, with a core “construction plan” centered on “one main line, one capability, five-dimensional coordination, and five-group linkage,” guiding the bank to achieve steady operation amid complex environments.

Focusing on customer-centered comprehensive management as the main line, breaking down departmental barriers, promoting front-middle-back office collaboration to serve customers, enabling “one door for all services”; building enterprise-level industry research capabilities, forming the “132N five-strategy integrated” working mechanism, using research to drive marketing, credit, review, operations, and assessment, enhancing service precision.

Systematically coordinating five dimensions—customer groups, risks, structures, benefits, and scale—adhering to risk control bottom lines; strengthening five group linkages—corporate and financial markets, stock and flow, interest and non-interest, domestic and overseas, basic and value-added services—focusing on transforming into a lightweight bank, leveraging domestic and international coordination to serve the global Zhejiang business development needs.

Deepening Zhejiang: rooted locally, building a strong base

Advancing in tandem with nationwide service

The care and strong support from the Zhejiang provincial party committee and government are a solid guarantee for Zhejiang Merchants Bank’s cyclical crossing and steady development. In 2025, the Zhejiang provincial party committee and government provided strategic guidance for the bank’s development, clarifying the future ten-year path, injecting strong momentum into the bank’s high-quality growth.

As a nationally listed joint-stock bank rooted in Zhejiang, “deepening Zhejiang” is the bank’s development foundation and a key focus of this performance briefing. 2025 marks the start of a new three-year action plan for “deepening Zhejiang.” The bank will continue to serve Zhejiang, Zhejiang merchants, and local residents, constantly enhancing its influence and competitiveness within Zhejiang Province. Meanwhile, successful practices developed locally will be steadily promoted nationwide, strengthening internal and external coordination and mutual empowerment, forming a development pattern of “deepening Zhejiang” and “serving the whole country” advancing together.

In resource allocation, Zhejiang Merchants Bank will allocate two-thirds of new credit resources to Zhejiang, providing nearly 1.2 trillion yuan in financing services for the province—an increase of 155 billion yuan year-over-year, 1.5 times the growth of 2024. Major projects will see new financing exceeding 10 billion yuan, doubling compared to 2024. In terms of business performance, deposits and loans within Zhejiang lead among joint-stock peers, with significantly reduced interest costs, non-performing loan ratios better than the provincial banking average, and the scale of local bond and non-financial debt underwriting remaining among the industry’s top.

特色赋能：打造特色业务矩阵

Differentiated and distinctive advantages continue to emerge

In 2025, Zhejiang Merchants Bank focused on the real economy, systematically building a matrix of特色业务 (specialized business lines) including supply chain finance, Zhejiang Silver Gold Leasing, Sci-Tech Innovation Finance, Zhejiang Silver Gold Market, cross-border finance, and wealth management, continuously cultivating differentiated development advantages.

Supply chain finance has formed differentiated solutions in industries such as power, energy, and new energy vehicles, serving over 98k upstream and downstream enterprises, with long-term low non-performing rates; Sci-Tech Innovation Finance, based on a “talent bank,” has a loan balance exceeding 270 billion yuan, serving over 35k tech companies, with one in three new clients being tech enterprises in recent years; Zhejiang Silver Gold Market’s market-making business continues to strengthen, ranking among the top in the industry, with the Shanghai Futures Exchange’s gold market-making business leading the market, and silver market-making maintaining a market-leading position.

Cross-border finance continuously enhances full lifecycle service capabilities, serving over 24k outward-oriented enterprises, with foreign exchange trading volume reaching 188 billion USD; wealth management agency business has shifted from “selling products” to “portfolio matching,” with agency scale increasing by 16.45% year-over-year and income rising by 45.47%.

In 2025, Zhejiang Merchants Bank’s customer base continues to solidify, with corporate clients growing by 24% throughout the year, maintaining rapid growth; retail customers increased by nearly 60%; its subsidiary Zhejiang Silver Gold Leasing performs well, and Zhejiang Silver Gold Wealth Management achieved profitability in its first year of operation. The core competitiveness of differentiated and distinctive development is increasingly prominent.

Standing at a new development starting point, as a systemically important bank, Zhejiang Merchants Bank will always maintain strategic focus, uphold the political and people-oriented nature of finance, firmly establish and practice correct performance views, and uphold the cultural philosophy of “seeing actions, seeing hearts, seeing the future,” becoming a steadfast long-termist. Guided by the “Four-Path” approach and the “1155” operating strategy, deepening Zhejiang, serving the real economy, continuously improving operational quality and efficiency, and delivering satisfactory results to the provincial party committee, government, investors, and society through diligent efforts.

During the meeting, leaders also provided detailed answers on asset quality trends, interest margin compression responses, and high-quality development issues.

Zhejiang Merchants Bank is one of the twelve nationwide joint-stock commercial banks, officially established on August 18, 2004, headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. It is an “A+H” listed bank and a systemically important bank domestically. It has established 373 branches across 22 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, and Hong Kong SAR, effectively covering key regions such as Zhejiang, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It is also accelerating multi-licensing comprehensive operations, with subsidiaries Zhejiang Silver Gold Leasing and Zhejiang Wealth Management. In the UK’s “The Banker” magazine’s “Top 1000 World Banks 2025” list, it ranks 82nd. China Chengxin International has awarded Zhejiang Merchants Bank the highest AAA credit rating for financial institutions.