This article only represents the author's own views.
In the world of Chinese banking, China Merchants Bank Co. Ltd. (3968.HK; 600036.SH) has long been an innovator, charting a course of premium growth through superior retail banking and wealth management services. Unlike its national rivals, mostly based in Beijing, the lender harkens from the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, distancing it from the policy-oriented lending of most of its peers. But a preliminary version of the bank’s latest annual results shows that this outlier can’t escape the gravitational pull of a slowing economy that is weighing on everyone.
In 2025, growth in China Merchants Bank’s operating income, effectively its revenue, came to a virtual halt, rising a mere 0.01% year-on-year to 337.5 billion yuan ($48 billion), according to the preliminary results released last Friday. The lender managed to grow its net profit by a slightly bigger but still unimpressive 1.2% to 150.2 billion yuan.