CMB President discusses the decline in average return on net assets: a 10% threshold should be used as the baseline for proper management

On March 30, Wang Liang, President of China Merchants Bank, said at the bank’s 2025 performance briefing that the bank’s revenue growth in recent years has faced substantial pressure. In 2025, China Merchants Bank achieved revenue growth of 0.01%—after revenue declines of 1.46% in 2023 and 0.48% in 2024, it finally returned to positive growth. “Although this result is only a marginal increase, it is also hard-won, and it shows that China Merchants Bank’s overall operating revenue growth still has strong resilience.”

When asked about the reasons for China Merchants Bank’s pressure on revenue growth in the past, Wang Liang said that the bank’s past advantage was retail banking business, but in recent years the biggest shock to retail business has come from external policies and changes in the market. Therefore, China Merchants Bank has made up for the gap through other business segments, and this year it has finally achieved positive revenue growth.

When asked about this year’s revenue and profit growth targets, Wang Liang said that based on China Merchants Bank’s various operating indicators, the bank will be proactive and take action. “As for operating indicators: first, customer base growth; second, deposit and loan growth; and third, AUM growth. We need to actively act and maintain a relatively fast growth pace, which is a prerequisite for achieving growth in financial indicators. In terms of financial indicators growth, I feel that our expectations this year will trend toward stabilization and improve steadily.”

In 2025, China Merchants Bank’s average return on net assets attributable to ordinary shareholders (ROAE) was 13.44%, down 1.05 percentage points year over year.

Wang Liang said that from the board of directors to management, there has been high emphasis on maintaining a relatively high ROAE level. A relatively high ROAE can bring investors more attractive returns, so China Merchants Bank has also strengthened ROAE management to improve the bank’s overall capital return level. However, the assessment is still that ROAE will continue to show a downward trend.

“We will manage the pace of ROAE’s decline well. We need to use 10% as the bottom line to manage ROAE levels well, because I believe that only a bank that maintains ROAE of above 10% can create relatively good returns for shareholders.” Wang Liang said.

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