Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
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Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
Founded in 1984, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is one of China's 'Big Four' state-owned commercial banks - the other three are Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank.
OceanBase CEO Evan Yang announces the company’s global expansion plans at its office in Hong Kong on Thursday. Photo: Xinmei Shen
Ant Group

Ant Group affiliate OceanBase uses Hong Kong as hub to challenge Oracle

Oracle remains the world’s top database provider, but OceanBase has an infrastructure better suited for AI workloads, CEO says.

Banking & finance

New lending and repo plans accelerate the yuan’s challenge to the US dollar

Banking & finance

Hong Kong banks battle for wealthy mainland clients during ‘golden week’ holiday

Banking & finance

China’s banks face their ‘Japanification moment’, S&P report warns

For China’s central bank, ‘safeguarding growth and social stability will take priority over bank profits’, the report says.

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A man sits in front of the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, in Beijing. Photo: Reuters
Banking & finance

Profitability pressure grows for China’s state banks amid low rates

All six state banks, including ICBC and China Construction Bank, report lower margins alongside small reductions in bad loans.

Artificial intelligence

Alibaba, Standard Chartered partner to accelerate AI adoption in banking sector

The British multinational bank will leverage AI solutions from Alibaba Cloud to boost operational efficiency and elevate customer experience.

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Hong Kong stock market

Chinese firms’ H stocks trade at smallest discount to onshore shares in 5 years

The narrowing discrepancy reflects the Hong Kong market’s gains from global investors’ diversification efforts.

Pedestrians walk in front of an electronic sign board showing the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong on July 11, 2025. Photo: AFP
Banking & finance

China gives Hong Kong new yuan transfer cap as payment link starts

Starting from noon on Sunday, the 17 million registered users of Hong Kong’s FPS will be able to remit up to HK$10,000 per day to 298 million users on the mainland’s IBPS.

Alibaba

Alibaba cements AI leadership as cloud unit reports fastest growth since 2022

Internally, the company is also betting big on the integration of AI technologies with its traditional e-commerce business.

IPO

CATL’s dilemma: top-of-the-range Hong Kong IPO price may cap first-day gains

EV battery maker’s 6.7 per cent discount to its Shenzhen-traded shares is much lower than the average 25 per cent discount for dual-listed Chinese firms.

CATL is expected to raise HK$35.66 billion from the sale of 135.6 million shares at HK$263 apiece. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong stock market

AIA, Xiaomi lift Hang Seng Index, offsetting losses due to poor China PMI data

China’s April PMI falls to 49 from 50.5 in March and short of the consensus estimate of 49.7.

Hong Kong shares fell on Wednesday after China reported poor manufacturing data for April. Photo: Jelly Tse
Banking & finance

Chinese banks raise consumer loan rates from record low to protect margins

Banks will offer consumer loans at 3 per cent to boost their net interest margins, which hit a low of 1.52 per cent at the end of last year.

Banking & finance

Chinese state banks’ 2024 profits rise, NPLs dip even as margins thin

All six state-owned commercial banks posted moderate profit growth for last year, as non-performing loan ratios declined slightly.

Hong Kong property

ICBC (Asia) backs Hong Kong developers with loan support as sector struggles

Local subsidiary of China’s largest bank has ‘zero’ non-performing loans from Hong Kong developers and plans to increase home mortgages.

A worker cleans a pool near residential construction projects in the Kai Tak area of Hong Kong on March 11, 2025. Photo: May Tse
Banking & finance

Beijing allows Hong Kong banks to issue credit cards in China from March 1

The new rules will benefit lenders such as HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng Bank, analysts say.

Top Hong Kong banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered stand to gain from the opening up of China’s banking sector. Photo: Sam Tsang
Corruption in China

Former ICBC executive gets death sentence with reprieve for taking bribes

Zhang Hongli, who was vice-president of the state-owned bank, accepted bribes in exchange for help with loan financing and securing jobs.

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Banking & finance

Hong Kong banks offer lai see, hampers, Asia Miles to returning workers

Companies have traditionally given staffers lai see packets on the first working day of the Lunar New Year.

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China stock market

Chinese banks surge on CSRC guideline urging more shareholder returns

Chinese banks soar after regulator pushes for increased shareholder returns, aiming to enhance stock prices and corporate governance.

Shares of top banks, including ICBC, rose on Monday after the regulator pushed for increased shareholder returns. Photo: EPA-EFE
Banking & finance

China weighs injecting US$142 billion of capital into top banks

Funding for the first such intervention since the 2008 financial crisis would mainly come from new special sovereign bonds, sources say.

Banking & finance

Will new policy encourage Chinese banks to invest in struggling start-ups?

Beijing’s encouragement for banks to boost investment in unlisted companies is a big move in the effort to support start-ups, analysts say.

Banking & finance

State-owned banks face thinner margins amid Beijing’s call to support economy

At a time when the country faces unprecedented challenges, these state-owned banking giants show their importance as the economy’s lifeline.

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An advertisement displaying the interest rate for loans at a branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan province. Photo: Bloomberg
Banking & finance

Saudi Arabia wealth fund signs US$50 billion deals with 6 Chinese institutions

Agreements with top financial institutions including BOC, CCB and ICBC aim to promote two-way capital flows through both debt and equity, Public Investment Fund says.

PIF has signed six memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth up to $50 billion with leading Chinese financial institutions. Photo: PIF
Banking & finance

Exclusive | Wealth Management Connect revamp sent investment skyrocketing, says ICBC

Improvements to the Wealth Management Connect scheme in February have proven to be a game-changer, with investment via the cross-border trading channel quadrupling between January and April, according to government data and ICBC.

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Banking & finance

Chinese banks could improve their bottom lines with AI adoption, experts say

AI could lift Chinese banks’ fee-based income to as much as 40 per cent from 30 per cent currently, Asian Banker founder Emmanuel Daniel says.

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Banking & finance

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund trims stake in China’s biggest lender ICBC

Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, cut its stake in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) twice in one day last week, reducing its share of the lender to less than 5 per cent.

The state investor reported a 5.2 per cent drop in its net portfolio value to US$283.4 billion in the financial year ended March 2023. Photo: Shutterstock
Banking & finance

China’s banks to sell US$60 billion of loss-absorbing bonds to meet PBOC’s norms

ICBC and BOC line up issuance plans for 60 billion yuan worth of total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) bonds as Chinese G-SIBs (global systemically important banks) are expected to sell 440 billion yuan of these newly introduced bonds.

Bank of China (BOC) Tower seen from West Kowloon on a smoggy day. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Banking & finance

China’s ICBC, Agricultural Bank post profit drops on margin squeeze

The government may press state banks to continue cutting lending rates, further eroding their margins, analyst says.

Banking & finance

Fitch cuts outlook for China’s state-owned banks from stable to negative

The move by Fitch Ratings comes a week after it cut its projection for the country’s sovereign credit rating, reflecting pessimism in the world’s second largest economy and concerns over Beijing’s capacity to support its biggest lenders.

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