Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has continued to refine its asset structure and diversify its revenue streams in 2025.

As the world's largest bank by assets, ICBC reported total assets of 53.48 trillion yuan at the end of 2025, maintaining its leading position among peers. More notably, this global banking behemoth has made further strides in achieving a dynamic balance between scale, quality, and profitability.

On June 26, ICBC convened its 2025 Annual General Meeting. During the meeting, the management team detailed the year's operational results and the rationale behind its structural adjustments. The bank's growth in scale is accompanied by a continued push for diversification on the revenue side and simultaneous optimization of asset allocation and risk management on the asset side. The "global bank" is transitioning from being the "largest" to becoming the "most comprehensive."

Revenue Becomes Increasingly Diversified, with Non-Interest Income Rising Over 11% Last Year

"In terms of total operating revenue, net interest income remains the foundation. However, regarding incremental contributions, the marginal contribution from other non-interest income is becoming increasingly significant, with its elasticity continuously strengthening," stated ICBC President Liu Jun at the shareholders' meeting.

In 2025, ICBC's asset structure was further optimized, and its revenue became more diversified. During the reporting period, the bank achieved operating revenue of 801.395 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%, and realized a net profit of 370.766 billion yuan, up 1% year-on-year. Non-interest income reached 166.269 billion yuan, surging 11.8% and effectively supporting revenue growth compared to net interest income, which saw a slight decrease of 0.4%. Net fee and commission income amounted to 111.171 billion yuan, an increase of 1.6%. The increment in other non-interest income exceeded 15 billion yuan, with investment income and trading revenue showing significant growth.

President Liu Jun further explained at the meeting that this reflects profound changes in China's financial supply structure, shifting from the past model of "projects seeking funds" to "funds seeking projects," and moving from a primary reliance on indirect financing towards more coordinated development between indirect and direct financing.

This conclusion is fully supported by the annual data. Last year, ICBC's total interest-earning assets amounted to 52.09 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%. Within this, loans, financial investments, and interbank assets grew by 7.6%, 19.5%, and -26.1% year-on-year, respectively, accounting for 57%, 32.5%, and 3.4% of interest-earning assets. Notably, non-credit assets are becoming a crucial source of incremental contribution—of the 697.3 billion yuan increase in interest-earning assets in the fourth quarter alone, loan growth contributed only 54.2 billion yuan, while financial investment growth reached 487.5 billion yuan.

Regarding equity services supporting the real economy, Liu Jun stated that ICBC is building an equity service ecosystem, engaging deeply in various industrial funds upstream and comprehensively covering the fund ecosystem chain downstream, thereby upgrading financial support from point-based to network-based empowerment. Currently, there are approximately 60,000 funds in the entire market, with over 8,000 having accounts at ICBC; among roughly 12,000 fund managers, ICBC serves more than 4,000. Relying on this ecosystem network, the bank has established a foundation for driving commercial banking development through investment banking business.

Structural Reshaping on the Asset Side, with Overseas Total Assets Exceeding $570 Billion

If the growth in non-interest income represents diversification on the revenue side, then the adjustment in credit allocation signifies a structural reshaping on the asset side. These two aspects are interconnected, together forming a complete picture of asset structure diversification.

At the end of 2025, ICBC's total customer loans and advances reached 30.51 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.13 trillion yuan from the end of the previous year, representing growth of 7.5%. Corporate loans amounted to 18.84 trillion yuan, growing 7.8% from the beginning of the year and constituting the main driver of credit growth.

Vice President Wang Jingwu stated at the shareholders' meeting that, focusing on strengthening the entire investment and financing process management, the bank continues to optimize the direction of its investments and financing. It proactively aligns with the national 14th and upcoming 15th Five-Year Plans, enhances the guiding role of investment and financing planning, and ensures the effective implementation of regional investment and financing plans. By addressing specific key regional industrial scenarios, the bank promotes region-specific solutions covering the entire pre-loan, during-loan, and post-loan process, achieving centralized management at the headquarters level and flexibility at the regional level, thereby improving the alignment of its investment and financing structure with the national economy.

In specific key sectors, ICBC's loans to the manufacturing sector, inclusive finance, and technological innovation grew by 19.4%, 22.8%, and 19.9%, respectively. Vice President Wang Jingwu further indicated that the bank continues to increase support for national strategic priority areas, providing matching investment and financing policy guarantees, contributing to the development of new quality productive forces, and achieving a diversified customer base through this development.

First-quarter data continued this trend. At the end of the reporting period, ICBC's total assets grew 4.3% from the beginning of the period, while loans grew 3.7%. Structurally, corporate loans increased 6.1%, retail loans grew 0.6%, and deposits rose 3.6% from the beginning of the period.

Simultaneously, the diversification of ICBC's asset structure is also evident in the expansion of its international assets. The current ICBC is moving from the initial stage of "going global" to a deeper phase of "integrating into" global markets. According to Vice President Zhang Weiwu, ICBC has established nearly 400 branches and offices in 49 countries and regions worldwide. Through its stake in Standard Bank of South Africa, it indirectly covers 20 African countries. As of the end of May this year, its total overseas assets exceeded 570 billion US dollars.

A more significant breakthrough occurred on the day of the shareholders' meeting. On June 26, the People's Bank of China issued an announcement, officially authorizing Standard Bank of South Africa and ICBC to serve as joint African RMB clearing banks. This is the first RMB clearing bank named after a continent and the first jointly held by two commercial banks. Previously, ICBC had served as an RMB clearing bank in 12 countries.