China's Listed Banks Show Diverging Credit Mix in First Half of 2026

In the first half of 2026, 42 A-share listed banks disclosed interim operating data. At the end of June 2026, their combined loan balance stood at RMB 196.36 trillion, up 5.10% from the start of 2026. Corporate loans and advances totaled RMB 121.37 trillion, up 7.90%, while personal loans and advances totaled RMB 62.66 trillion, down 0.27%. Over the same period, corporate deposits totaled RMB 101.52 trillion, up 5.47%, and personal deposits totaled RMB 120.13 trillion, up 4.65%. Financial statistics for the first half of 2026 released by the People's Bank of China on July 15, 2026 showed that loans to enterprises and public institutions increased by RMB 11.13 trillion in the first half, while household loans decreased by RMB 366.8 billion.

At the end of June 2026, all 42 listed banks recorded positive growth in corporate loan balances from the start of 2026, with 15 banks posting corporate loan growth of more than 10%. Bank of Ningbo's corporate loan balance was RMB 1.28 trillion, up 19.32% from the start of 2026. The six major state-owned banks maintained substantial corporate loan growth from a high base, with Postal Savings Bank of China up 14% from the start of 2026 and the other five large state-owned banks all recording corporate loan growth of at least 6%. Alongside the increase in corporate lending, some banks saw their personal loan books contract.

At the end of June 2026, 28 of the 42 listed banks recorded negative growth in personal loan balances from the start of 2026. Bank of Xi'an's personal loan balance fell 29.71% from the start of 2026, with personal loans dropping to 17.88% of total loans from 24.89% at the start of 2026; its personal consumer loan balance was RMB 19.664 billion, down by half from the start of 2026. Among the large state-owned banks, Agricultural Bank of China, Postal Savings Bank of China and China Construction Bank posted positive personal loan growth of 3.34%, 1.30% and 0.32%, respectively, from the start of 2026; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and Bank of Communications saw their personal loan books shrink, with Bank of Communications down 2.82% from the start of 2026.

Among the joint-stock banks, Huaxia Bank and China Zheshang Bank each recorded personal loan declines of more than 6% from the start of 2026; China Minsheng Bank fell 4.52%; Industrial Bank and China Everbright Bank fell 3.70% and 3.47%, respectively; China Merchants Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, China CITIC Bank and Ping An Bank also recorded personal loan declines of varying degrees.

At the end of June 2026, China Merchants Bank's corporate loan balance was RMB 3.20 trillion, up 9.27% from the end of 2025 and accounting for 45.21% of its total loans and advances, up 2.79 percentage points from the end of 2025; its retail loan balance was RMB 3.61 trillion, down 1.11% from the end of 2025 and accounting for 51.04% of total loans and advances, down 1.88 percentage points. In the first half of 2026, China Merchants Bank's retail finance business revenue was RMB 96.820 billion, up 0.65% year on year and accounting for 54.34% of the bank's operating revenue, down 2.25 percentage points; wholesale finance business revenue was RMB 75.536 billion. Over the same period, pretax profit from the retail finance business was RMB 42.888 billion, down 17.58% year on year and accounting for 47.27% of the bank's pretax profit, down 11.26 percentage points; pretax profit from the wholesale finance business was RMB 45.703 billion, an increase of RMB 8.646 billion from the same period in 2025.

At the end of June 2026, corporate loans accounted for 83% of Bank of Suzhou's total loans, up from the start of 2026. In the first half of 2026, Bank of Suzhou's corporate business contributed total profit of RMB 3.116 billion, more than 70% of the bank's total profit; personal business generated profit of RMB 305 million, less than 8% of total profit. In the first half of 2026, Bank of Communications' corporate finance business revenue was RMB 70.883 billion, while personal finance business revenue was RMB 52.363 billion. Over the same period, total profit from the corporate finance business was RMB 36.508 billion, an increase of more than RMB 10 billion from the same period in 2025; total profit from the personal finance business was RMB 1.652 billion, a decrease of about RMB 6 billion from the same period in 2025, with its share of the bank's total profit falling to 3% from 16% in the first half of 2025.