The national first city commercial bank listed on both the A-share and H-share markets, Bank of Zhengzhou Co.,Ltd., has witnessed another significant change in senior management.
On the evening of February 12, Bank of Zhengzhou announced that President Li Hong had resigned from her positions as executive director, president, and member of the board's relevant specialized committees due to personal reasons. The departure of this female president, who had served for just over a year, has drawn external attention to the bank's senior management team and governance structure.
Public information shows that Bank of Zhengzhou was established in November 1996. It successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December 2015, and subsequently listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in September 2018, becoming the first A-share listed bank in Henan Province.
As a local corporate bank rooted in the Central Plains and serving the local economy, Bank of Zhengzhou has consistently integrated its own development into the broader development of Henan Province. In recent years, while the bank's asset scale has maintained steady growth, its performance has continued to face pressure.
In the first three quarters of 2025, the bank's operating performance showed signs of recovery. However, it still confronts multiple challenges, including optimizing its income structure and resolving risks related to real estate.
Looking ahead, the questions of who will succeed Li Hong as the new president of Bank of Zhengzhou and how the bank will improve its governance structure and stabilize its overall operations have become focal points for both the industry and investors.
**1. Female President Steps Down After One Year, Senior Team Needs Reinforcement**
On the evening of February 12, Bank of Zhengzhou announced that Li Hong resigned from her roles as executive director, president, chairperson and member of the Board's Risk Management Committee, and chairperson and member of the Board's Consumer Rights Protection Work Committee due to personal reasons.
The announcement indicated that Li Hong's original term as executive director was set to last until the expiration of the bank's eighth board of directors.
Li Hong, a financial executive born in the 1970s, was the first female president in the history of Bank of Zhengzhou. Her resume shows she was born in 1970 and previously worked at the Postal Savings Bank of China, Beijing Branch, for over 16 years, possessing mature and comprehensive banking management experience.
During her tenure at Postal Savings Bank, Li Hong held positions including General Manager of the Planning and Finance Department, Senior Business Manager, Party Committee Member, Vice President, and Chairperson of the Labor Union. She oversaw major front, middle, and back-office functions such as corporate business, financial同业 business, risk management, credit approval, legal compliance, operations management, financial planning, and the general office.
In November 2024, Li Hong was appointed as the new president of Bank of Zhengzhou, taking full charge of the bank's operational management. In January 2025, Bank of Zhengzhou announced that regulators had approved Li Hong's qualifications for the director and president positions. Her tenure lasted just over one year until her recent departure.
The announcement stated that Li Hong's resignation took effect upon delivery of her resignation letter to the board. After her departure, she will no longer hold any position at Bank of Zhengzhou or its controlled subsidiaries.
It is worth noting that the board gave a positive evaluation of Li Hong's work during her tenure, thanking her for her contributions in implementing national economic and financial policies, serving the real economy, promoting the execution of the bank's strategy and business transformation, and enhancing risk control capabilities.
As of the announcement, no successor was mentioned. Subsequent relevant personnel appointments will be announced separately after the company completes the statutory procedures.
Since the beginning of 2025, Bank of Zhengzhou's senior management team has entered a period of intensive adjustment. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, six senior executives departed: Guo Zhibin, Fu Chunqiao, and Sun Haigang resigned as vice presidents; Li Lei, Liu Jiuqing, and Li Hong (sharing the same name as the former president) resigned as assistant presidents.
In February 2025, Bank of Zhengzhou appointed Pan Feng as its chief risk officer. In March 2025, the bank appointed Gao Rui as assistant president. In January 2026, regulators approved Gao Rui's qualification as assistant president.
In January 2026, Bank of Zhengzhou welcomed another new senior executive, appointing Wang Sentao as vice president, pending regulatory approval of his qualifications.
Currently, the bank's official website shows its senior management team consists of only five members. Several key positions remain vacant. Before Vice President Wang Sentao's appointment is approved, only Sun Runhua officially serves as vice president.
For commercial banks, a stable senior management team is core to corporate governance and the foundation for stable operations. The questions of who will succeed Li Hong as president and when the multiple key positions will be filled remain unanswered.
**2. Performance Recovery: Slight Profit Increase, Decline in Non-Interest Income**
The official website shows that Bank of Zhengzhou was established in 1996 and listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen in 2015 and 2018 respectively. It is the first A-share listed bank in Henan Province and the first "A+H" listed city commercial bank in China. In April 2022, it was designated by the Henan Provincial Party Committee and Government as the operating entity for policy-oriented sci-tech finance in Henan Province.
In recent years, Bank of Zhengzhou's total assets have maintained steady expansion. As of the end of September 2025, the bank's total assets broke through the 700 billion yuan mark, reaching 743.552 billion yuan, an increase of 9.93% from the end of the previous year. The total principal of loans and advances amounted to 406.717 billion yuan, an increase of 4.91% from the end of the previous year. The total principal of deposits absorbed was 459.518 billion yuan, an increase of 13.59% from the beginning of the year.
However, in terms of performance, the bank's revenue and net profit have been under pressure. From 2021 to 2024, Bank of Zhengzhou achieved operating revenues of 14.801 billion yuan, 15.101 billion yuan, 13.667 billion yuan, and 12.877 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth rates of 1.33%, 2.03%, -9.50%, and -5.78% respectively.
During the same period, it achieved net profits attributable to shareholders of 3.226 billion yuan, 2.422 billion yuan, 1.850 billion yuan, and 1.876 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth rates of 1.85%, -24.92%, -23.62%, and 1.39% respectively.
By 2025, signs of recovery in Bank of Zhengzhou's performance became evident. As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, the bank achieved an operating revenue of 9.395 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.91%. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 2.279 billion yuan, a mere increase of 1.56% year-on-year. This single-digit growth rate is far below the level of high-quality city commercial banks in the industry.
In terms of revenue structure, as of the end of the third quarter of 2025, Bank of Zhengzhou's net interest income was 7.816 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.83%. It accounted for 83.20% of operating revenue, an increase of 1.51 percentage points from the same period last year.
However, the bank's net non-interest income was 1.579 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.59%. Within this, net fee and commission income was 325 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.09%. Investment income was 1.463 billion yuan, a significant increase of 42.88% year-on-year, primarily due to changes in bond investment income during the reporting period compared to the same period last year.
In contrast, net gains/(losses) from fair value changes were -219 million yuan, turning negative compared to 245 million yuan in the same period last year. Bank of Zhengzhou stated in its report that this was mainly due to fair value changes in financial assets measured at fair value through profit or loss.
Regarding expense items, Bank of Zhengzhou showed clear results in cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Business and management expenses were 2.243 billion yuan, a decrease of 56 million yuan year-on-year.
However, the increase in credit impairment losses dragged down net profit performance. Financial reports show that credit impairment losses were 4.797 billion yuan and 4.046 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2023 and 2024 respectively, down from 2022 levels. But in the first three quarters of 2025, credit impairment losses increased to 4.359 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.74%.
In terms of asset quality, Bank of Zhengzhou's non-performing loan (NPL) indicators showed "one down, one up." As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, the bank's NPL ratio was 1.76%, down 0.03 percentage points from the end of the previous year. The loan provision coverage ratio was 186.17%, an increase of 3.18 percentage points from the end of the previous year.
However, from an industry perspective, Bank of Zhengzhou's NPL ratio ranks second-highest among A-share city commercial banks,仅次于 Bank of Lanzhou, and remains elevated.
In terms of the scale of NPLs, as of the end of the third quarter of 2025, Bank of Zhengzhou's NPL balance was 7.158 billion yuan, an increase of 235 million yuan from the end of 2024.
**3. Real Estate Burden Remains, Retail Business Emphasis Increases**
Bank of Zhengzhou did not disclose details of the NPL balance in its third-quarter 2025 report. However, clues can be gleaned from its interim 2025 report.
The interim report shows that as of the first half of 2025, the NPL ratio for the bank's corporate loans was 2.07%, up 0.02 percentage points from the end of the previous year. The NPL ratio for personal loans was 1.56%, unchanged from the end of the previous year. The NPL balance for corporate loans was 5.693 billion yuan, significantly higher than the retail NPL balance of 1.472 billion yuan.
Specifically, the bank's corporate NPL balance was primarily concentrated in the real estate industry, wholesale and retail trade, and leasing and business services.
Among these, risks in the real estate sector are most prominent. As of the end of June 2025, Bank of Zhengzhou's NPL ratio for the real estate industry was 9.75%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from the end of the previous year. The NPL balance was 2.058 billion yuan, a decrease of 65 million yuan from the end of the previous year.
Historically, real estate credit was once a key focus for Bank of Zhengzhou. Wind data shows that starting in 2018, the bank's real estate loan scale surged to 18.098 billion yuan, a massive increase of 81.14% year-on-year.
For the following three years, Bank of Zhengzhou's real estate loan scale continued to climb. From 2019 to 2021, real estate loan amounts reached 26.678 billion yuan, 30.557 billion yuan, and 34.438 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 47.41%, 14.54%, and 12.70%.
Along with the rapid expansion of the real estate loan scale, associated risks gradually emerged. In 2020, the bank's NPL ratio for real estate was 1.25%, a significant increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous year. The NPL balance was 382 million yuan, a sharp increase of 342 million yuan year-on-year.
In 2021, the NPL ratio for real estate further rose to 3.47%, a surge of 2.22 percentage points year-on-year. The NPL balance increased significantly by 852 million yuan to 1.194 billion yuan.
To address the declining asset quality in the real estate sector, Bank of Zhengzhou began proactively reducing its real estate loan scale starting in 2022. From 2022 to 2024, real estate loan amounts were 32.881 billion yuan, 29.168 billion yuan, and 22.216 billion yuan respectively. Over three years, the cumulative reduction was nearly 100 billion yuan.
Additionally, the bank actively disposed of non-performing assets through write-offs, transfers, and judicial recovery. In 2024, Bank of Zhengzhou made a large-scale sale of non-performing assets to vigorously resolve存量 risks.
In September of that year, Bank of Zhengzhou disclosed a plan to sell credit assets and other assets with a book balance of approximately 15.011 billion yuan to Zhongyuan Asset Management for a transfer price of 10 billion yuan, comprising 5 billion yuan in cash and trust beneficiary rights valued at 5 billion yuan.
Objectively, despite continuously increasing efforts to dispose of NPLs, pressure on real estate-related NPLs at Bank of Zhengzhou persists. Wind data shows that from 2022 to 2024, Bank of Zhengzhou's real estate NPLs consistently showed both ratio and balance increases. The NPL ratios were 4.06%, 6.48%, and 9.55% respectively. The NPL balance grew from 1.335 billion yuan to 2.123 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 800 million yuan over four years, indicating that real estate risks still need resolution.
At the strategic level, it is noted that Bank of Zhengzhou is steadily advancing the development of its retail business. The bank's 2025 interim report stated that it adheres to a "customer-centric" service philosophy, deeply cultivating市民 finance and rural finance, and focusing on building four major管家 services: "Citizen管家," "Financing管家," "Wealth管家," and "Rural管家."
In the first half of 2025, Bank of Zhengzhou's retail business achieved revenue of 1.236 billion yuan, a record high for the same period, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.56%. The performance of personal deposit business was particularly notable. As of the end of June, the bank's personal deposit balance was 258.098 billion yuan, a significant increase of 39.918 billion yuan from the end of the previous year, a growth rate of 18.3%.
During the same period, total personal loans reached 94.556 billion yuan, an increase of 3.96% from the end of the previous year. The issuance of debit cards, credit cards, and rural revitalization cards all showed steady growth, continuously strengthening the retail customer base.
However, in terms of revenue contribution, the share of retail banking business at Bank of Zhengzhou remains relatively low. As of the end of the first half of 2025, corporate banking business contributed 3.546 billion yuan, accounting for 53% of revenue. Retail banking contributed 1.236 billion yuan, accounting for 18.47% of total revenue, still a significant gap compared to corporate banking.
In summary, Bank of Zhengzhou urgently needs to fill core management positions, including the presidency, improve its management structure, address governance shortcomings, and rebuild market confidence.
Simultaneously, the bank must continue to address pressure from real estate NPLs, optimize its income structure, and, building on the weak recovery in performance, truly embark on a path of high-quality, sustainable, and stable development.