As of early September 2025, except for Guangfa Bank, all national joint-stock commercial banks have completed their interim earnings disclosures. In the first half of the year, joint-stock banks continued to diverge across multiple dimensions including asset scale, profit structure, interest margins, and asset quality, with the industry's "Matthew effect" becoming increasingly pronounced.

Data reveals that 11 joint-stock banks experienced overall asset expansion in the first half, with combined operating revenue approaching 800 billion yuan, down 1.85% year-on-year. They achieved net profit attributable to shareholders exceeding 280 billion yuan, up 0.42% year-on-year, displaying a pattern of "revenue under pressure, slight profit growth." Regarding profitability performance, the 11 banks showed a "seven up, four down" divergence, with universally narrowing net interest margins continuing to constrain profit margins, leading to further widening gaps. In terms of asset quality, the industry maintained overall stability, with provision coverage ratios meeting regulatory requirements.

**Asset Scale Stratification Clear, Leading Banks Consolidate Advantages**

In the first half of 2025, joint-stock banks maintained overall asset expansion, with nine major joint-stock banks experiencing scale growth except for slight contractions at CBHB and MINSHENG BANK, presenting a landscape of "steady growth coexisting with minor contraction." Joint-stock banks show clear scale stratification, with the 11 banks roughly divided into three tiers:

The first tier consists of banks with total assets exceeding 10 trillion yuan, including only two banks - CM BANK and Industrial Bank;

The second tier includes banks with total assets between 5 trillion and 10 trillion yuan, comprising CITIC Bank, SPDB, MINSHENG BANK, China Everbright Bank, and Ping An Bank;

The third tier encompasses banks with total assets below 5 trillion yuan, including Huaxia Bank, Zheshang Bank, CBHB, and Hengfeng Bank.

From first-half scale growth perspective, leading banks further enhanced their scale. CM BANK maintained the industry's top position with 12.66 trillion yuan in total assets, growing 4.16% from end-2024. This growth rate not only exceeded Industrial Bank in the same tier but was significantly higher than the joint-stock bank average. CITIC Bank and SPDB are actively approaching the first tier, with quarter-on-quarter growth of 3.42% and 1.94% respectively, showing notable momentum.

Regarding future scale growth, senior executives from multiple banks stated during 2025 interim earnings conferences that they will focus more on asset structure optimization and differentiated operations, exploring development paths emphasizing both quality and efficiency while maintaining reasonable asset scale growth.

**Combined Revenue Approaches 800 Billion Yuan, Net Profit Shows Divergence**

In the first half of 2025, 11 joint-stock banks achieved combined operating revenue approaching 800 billion yuan, down 1.85% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders exceeding 280 billion yuan, up 0.42% year-on-year, displaying an overall pattern of "revenue pressure, net profit divergence."

Regarding operating revenue, 70% of banks experienced year-on-year declines. Among banks with hundred-billion-yuan revenue levels, CM BANK, Industrial Bank, and CITIC Bank maintained leading positions but all showed negative growth of 1.7% to 3%. In the 50-100 billion yuan revenue range, bank performance varied significantly: Ping An Bank and China Everbright Bank experienced larger revenue declines, with Ping An Bank's revenue dropping 7.7 billion yuan, down 10.04% year-on-year. Meanwhile, SPDB and MINSHENG BANK achieved positive growth against the trend, with MINSHENG BANK's revenue growth reaching 7.83%, an increase of 5.3 billion yuan.

For net profit attributable to shareholders, seven joint-stock banks achieved positive growth, with SPDB's net profit increasing by 2.7 billion yuan, up 10.19%, showing the most outstanding performance. Although Hengfeng Bank's growth amount was 329 million yuan, its growth rate reached 12.32%, demonstrating strong growth potential. On the other hand, four banks - Ping An Bank, MINSHENG BANK, Huaxia Bank, and Zheshang Bank - experienced negative net profit growth, with Huaxia Bank showing the largest decline, down 990 million yuan year-on-year, a decrease of 7.95%. Ping An Bank and MINSHENG BANK both declined by over 1 billion yuan, representing substantial profit decreases.

Overall, leading banks continue to expand their market leadership through brand, channel, and customer base advantages, while some banks proactively contract asset scale and optimize business structure to address profit pressure from continuously narrowing net interest margins. During interim earnings conferences, executives from multiple banks indicated that net profit growth relies more on "structural optimization" rather than "scale expansion," with cost control and risk management becoming key factors for profit stability.

**Net Interest Margins Universally Narrow, Non-Interest Income Contribution Increases**

In the first half of 2025, net interest income continued to dominate joint-stock bank revenue, accounting for 65.84%. The 11 banks achieved combined net interest income of 521.1 billion yuan, down 1.52% year-on-year, with eight of the 11 banks experiencing net interest margin compression, as continuously narrowing margins erode earning asset profitability.

Regulatory data shows that joint-stock banks' average net interest margin dropped to 1.55% in the first half of 2025, below the 1.8% warning level. Specifically, among the 11 joint-stock banks, eight banks had margins below 1.8%. In the first half, except for CBHB's slight 1 basis point increase, all other banks experienced varying degrees of compression, with China Everbright Bank and CITIC Bank showing the largest compression of 14 basis points each.

Another notable characteristic is the significant inter-bank margin differential, reaching up to 56 basis points, indicating that while leading banks face similar compression pressure, they maintain industry leadership through stronger risk pricing capabilities. CM BANK leads the industry with a 1.88% margin level, while Ping An Bank ranks second at 1.80%.

Against the backdrop of interest income pressure, non-interest income has become an important variable for joint-stock banks to offset revenue declines. Influenced by increased market rate volatility and expanded trading opportunities in bond and capital markets, multiple banks achieved double-digit investment income growth, with China Everbright Bank performing most prominently at 33.41% growth. CM BANK, CITIC Bank, SPDB, and Zheshang Bank achieved investment income growth rates of 12.28%, 11.09%, 15.91%, and 16.51% respectively, all showing significant recovery.

As another core income source for intermediary business, fee and commission net income performance varied by bank. Among nine banks disclosing data, four achieved slight increases while five experienced declines, with Zheshang Bank showing the largest decline at 17.64%. Zheshang Bank explained in its earnings report that the significant decline was mainly due to reduced guarantee commitment business scale and lower bond underwriting business rates.

**Asset Quality Generally Stable, Provision Coverage Shows Significant Divergence**

In the first half of 2025, joint-stock bank asset quality remained generally stable, with most banks' non-performing loan ratios remaining basically flat or slightly declining compared to year-end, maintaining reasonable ranges. Provision coverage ratios all met regulatory requirements, but risk resilience capabilities varied significantly among banks.

Regarding non-performing loan ratios, among 10 joint-stock banks, four experienced declines, three remained flat, and three showed slight increases, with increase margins between 1-3 basis points, displaying characteristics of "mostly declining, few slightly rising" without significant risk exposure.

CM BANK maintained the industry's lowest non-performing loan ratio at 0.93%, down 2.11% from end-2024. Ping An Bank and Industrial Bank had non-performing ratios of 1.05% and 1.08% respectively, both below 1.1% and slightly declining from year-end.

Six banks maintained non-performing ratios between 1.1%-1.6%, with most banks keeping rates unchanged or showing declining trends, except for MINSHENG BANK's 1 basis point increase. CBHB's non-performing ratio reached 1.81%, up 2.84% quarter-on-quarter, with both absolute value and increase rate ranking high among joint-stock banks.

For provision coverage ratios, the industry overall meets regulatory requirements with sufficient risk compensation capabilities. Seven banks experienced declining provision coverage ratios, with decreases ranging from 0.25 to 4.88 percentage points, representing modest overall adjustments. Although CM BANK's provision coverage ratio declined 0.25 percentage points from year-end, it maintains industry leadership at 410.93%. Ping An Bank, Industrial Bank, and CITIC Bank achieved provision coverage ratios of 238.48%, 228.54%, and 207.53% respectively, all exceeding 200%, meaning over 2 yuan in provisions for every 1 yuan of non-performing loans, providing ample buffer for potential risks.