China News Service, Beijing, March 29 (Reporter Wang Enbo) The 2023 performance results of China's four state-owned banks, "Industry, Agriculture, China and Construction", which are leading in terms of asset size, have all been announced: last year, their daily profits exceeded 3.3 billion yuan (RMB, the same below). ), the non-performing loan ratio has dropped, and key areas of credit extension have performed well.
According to the annual report, in 2023, the net profit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was 365.116 billion yuan, the net profit of China Construction Bank was 332.460 billion yuan, the net profit of Agricultural Bank of China was 269.8 billion yuan, and the net profit of Bank of China was 246.371 billion yuan, all with positive year-on-year growth. The four major banks The total revenue is about 1.21 trillion yuan. At the end of last year, ICBC's total assets were nearly 45 trillion yuan, maintaining its leading position in the world.
In a complex environment, it is not easy for the four major banks to achieve steady growth in performance. The interest difference between deposits and loans has always been the main source of income for Chinese banks. Last year, the banking industry continued to benefit the real economy by lowering interest rates on new loans and adjusting interest rates on existing mortgage loans. The interest rate spread continued to narrow in recent years.
When "eating interest rate differentials" no longer guarantees profits, the banking industry is actively expanding intermediary businesses such as wealth management, custody, and fund sales, and stabilizing revenue by increasing non-interest income.
For example, Bank of China's non-interest income in 2023 will be approximately 156.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.98%. It is the largest change in the annual report's income statement. This income accounts for more than a quarter of Bank of China's revenue. CCB's non-interest income also recorded a year-on-year increase of 8.86% last year, rising to approximately 152.5 billion yuan.
Talking about this year's profit situation, Agricultural Bank of China Chairman Gu Shu mentioned that it will focus on key areas to promote the value contribution of intermediary businesses, such as seizing the opportunity of China's consumption recovery and increasing the expansion of third-party payment, credit card and other businesses.
As an important force in China's stable growth, solid operating performance gives the four major banks more confidence to support the real economy. Its huge amount of credit funds are tilted towards key areas and weak links, and areas related to new productivity have been given priority "protection".
On the basis of a high base, Agricultural Bank of China's loans in key areas such as manufacturing, technological innovation, and inclusive small and micro businesses will continue to grow in 2023: the balance of manufacturing loans is 2.95 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28%; the scale of strategic emerging industry loans exceeds 2 trillion Yuan.
In 2023, Bank of China provided a total of 1.47 trillion yuan in credit to 68,000 technology-based enterprises, and loans to technology finance, strategic emerging industries, and manufacturing increased significantly by 30.94%, 74.35%, and 28.05% respectively compared with the end of the previous year.
ICBC's total investment and financing in 2023 hit a record high, and the growth rate of manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, green and other loans was higher than the average growth rate of the bank's loans. ICBC Vice President Wang Jingwu revealed that the increase in funds this year will remain at the same level as last year. In the first two months alone, the bank's corporate loans increased by nearly 900 billion yuan compared with the beginning of the year, setting a new high.
In addition, the "three major projects" such as the construction of affordable housing also receive financial support. Wang Bing, vice president of China Construction Bank, said that as of the end of last year, China Construction Bank had connected more than 200 "three major projects" and more than 150 reserve projects, with a financing demand of 17 billion yuan for reserve projects. In the future, support will be increased to promote the implementation of more projects faster.
"With so many loans, asset quality cannot be a problem." Gu Shu expressed another concern for the market at the Agricultural Bank of China performance conference.
The annual report shows that the main "physical examination indicators" of the four major banks' asset quality are in a healthy range. The non-performing loan ratio at the end of 2023 has collectively dropped from the end of the previous year. The Bank of China with the largest decrease has dropped by 0.05 percentage points from the end of the previous year.
Wang Jingwu mentioned that ICBC has stepped up efforts to dispose of risky real estate companies and projects to ensure stable and controllable asset quality. At the end of 2023, the non-performing rate of its domestic real estate industry dropped by 0.77 percentage points from the beginning of the year.
Zhang Xuguang, deputy president of the Agricultural Bank of China, said that the Agricultural Bank of China responded early and quickly disposed of non-performing loans, and the risks in the real estate industry were effectively controlled. The real estate non-performing loan rate and new non-performing loans in 2023 have both declined compared with the previous year; the asset quality of urban investment enterprises is stable, Continued to be at a low level, the debt reduction policy has been steadily advanced, and debt repayment risks have been effectively resolved.
China Construction Bank and Bank of China, which plan to hold performance conferences in early April, also used expressions such as "stable" and "robust" to describe their asset quality in their annual reports, and emphasized that risk management in key areas was in line with expectations. (over)