State-owned Bank AIC Report Card: 3 banks with profit growth, Bank of China Asset Management and Bank of Communications Investment decline

Ask AI · Behind performance differentiation among state-owned banks’ AICs: what factors affect net profit growth and decline?

The annual reports of the state-owned banks have been released, and their affiliated financial asset investment companies (AICs) have also published their results. In 2025, among five state-owned bank AICs, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment, Jianxin Investment, and Agricultural Bank of China Investment all recorded growth in net profit, while Bank of China Asset Management and Bank of Communications Investment saw double-digit declines year over year in net profit, showing clear differentiation.

From the number of equity investment pilot funds, Jianxin Investment and Bank of China Asset Management each set up 28 funds, Agricultural Bank of China Investment set up 27, and Bank of Communications Investment has registered nearly 50 funds, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment has not disclosed related data.

Performance Differentiation:

3 AICs saw year-over-year net profit growth, 2 saw declines

AICs originally engaged in debt-to-equity swap business. By acquiring a company’s claims against a bank and converting them into equity, they help reduce corporate leverage, resolve financial risks. Later, as the business continued to develop, AICs gradually transformed from a single debt-to-equity tool into a key supporter of science-and-technology innovation (STI) enterprises.

The first batch of AICs in China was established in 2017 by five state-owned major banks. Since last year, as AICs expanded, Industrial Bank, China Merchants Bank, CITIC Bank, and Postal Savings Bank have also set up AICs and have successively begun formal operations since the end of last year.

How are China’s AICs performing right now? Looking at the five state-owned bank AICs that were established earliest, performance differentiation is quite significant.

On net profit, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment leads the pack, reaching 5.29B yuan last year. Agricultural Bank of China Investment and Jianxin Investment follow closely at 4.3B yuan and 3.79B yuan, respectively. Bank of China Asset Management and Bank of Communications Investment recorded net profits of 3.03B yuan and 2.04B yuan last year, respectively.

In terms of net profit growth rates, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment is also leading, with growth of about one-tenth. Agricultural Bank of China Investment and Jianxin Investment also achieved positive growth, with growth rates of 9.65% and 7.36%, respectively. Bank of China Asset Management and Bank of Communications Investment, however, saw declines of 17.80% and 16.10%, respectively.

In terms of asset size, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment is again “No. 1,” with total assets surpassing the 200 billion yuan mark, reaching 202.58B yuan, up 10.18% year over year. Agricultural Bank of China Investment and Jianxin Investment both have total assets above 6.81B yuan, while Bank of China Asset Management and Bank of Communications Investment are still below 327.6M yuan. That said, Bank of Communications Investment’s total assets grew by 10.10% last year, ranking relatively high.

Bank of China Asset Management is the only one among the five AICs to show a decline in total assets, with a drop of 1.30%. However, its net assets are still growing year over year, and the growth rate exceeds 10%. Industry analysis suggests this may indicate the company is reducing liabilities or optimizing asset allocation while still achieving significant growth in net assets, making its financial structure more stable and further enhancing its risk resilience.

Five AICs’ 2025 performance. Data source: the AIC parent-bank financial reports.

Investment Outlook:

More than 40% of invested enterprises come from emerging strategic industries

As a core vehicle for AIC equity investment, AIC equity investment pilot funds have accelerated their rollout in recent years. Some bank annual reports also disclosed related information.

In terms of number, Jianxin Investment and Bank of China Asset Management each established 28 equity investment pilot funds, while Agricultural Bank of China Investment set up 27. Bank of Communications Investment stated that as of the end of 2025, the company, as the manager, had cumulatively filed for nearly 50 funds.

In terms of subscribed size, Agricultural Bank of China Investment’s subscribed capital is close to 70 billion yuan, Bank of China Asset Management is 23.43 billion yuan, and Bank of Communications Investment’s subscribed amount exceeds 30 billion yuan.

Where do these funds go—what industries and what regions?

Bank of China Asset Management said that it has carried out equity investment projects in industries such as commercial aerospace, biopharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, and integrated circuits.

Industrial Bank’s subsidiary—CIB Investment—said the company has cumulatively deployed 6.808 billion yuan, with projects directed to new energy and new materials industries such as semiconductors, solar power, lithium mines, and engineering plastics. It covers science-and-technology enterprises and private enterprises in places including Fujian, Guangdong, Shanghai, Anhui, and Shandong. According to the company, it was established in November 2025 and has been operating for 4 months to date.

Enterprise early warning data from the Tianyancha platform shows that, as of now and including the four AICs most recently established, there are 653 invested enterprises across China’s 9 AICs. Of these, 288 are strategic emerging industry enterprises, accounting for more than 40%. In terms of technology-based designations, 369 enterprises have obtained various technology-based designations, accounting for 56.51%.

By region, AIC-invested enterprises are concentrated mainly in Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Shandong, with Jiangsu topping the list with 81 enterprises.

Exit Situation:

More exit deals, with manufacturing and construction leading

While speeding up execution on the investment side, AICs are also gradually exiting certain enterprises.

Tianyancha data shows that, as of now, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment has exited 105 enterprises, Jianxin Investment and Agricultural Bank of China Investment have exited 86 and 78 enterprises respectively, and Bank of Communications Investment and Bank of China Asset Management have exited 60 and 54 enterprises respectively.

In terms of the industries of the exited enterprises, the five major AICs all have manufacturing and construction as the most common categories. Taking Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment as an example, among the manufacturing enterprises it exited, there are 22; among the construction enterprises it exited, there are 18, totaling nearly 40% of the total number of exits.

In terms of exit timing, from 2023 to 2025, the number of exited enterprises from the five major AICs generally increased. Taking Agricultural Bank of China Investment as an example, it exited 9 invested enterprises in 2023, 10 in 2024, and 27 in 2025. Since 2026, it has exited 5 invested enterprises.

Nandu Bay Finance & Media Social reporter learned that, currently, exit methods for AIC equity investments include IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, enterprise share buybacks, equity transfers, and so on. Taking Bank of Communications Investment as an example: in December 2020, Bank of Communications Capital, a unit under Bank of Communications Investment, participated in the last round of financing before the IPO of a smart hardware platform-type enterprise, Huaqin Technology, with an investment amount of 50 million yuan and a shareholding ratio of 0.18%. In August 2023, Huaqin Technology went public. According to the 2024 annual report of Bank of Communications, in 2023, “the company’s investment projects achieved gains from IPO listings and large exits.”

Some AICs also exit through equity transfers. Taking Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment as an example: in August last year, the Beijing Equity Exchange released a transfer announcement for 32,760 million shares of Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum and Natural Gas Co., Ltd. (15.60% of the shares). The transferor was Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment.

Project information shows that Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum and Natural Gas Co., Ltd.’s main business is the production and sales of liquefied natural gas, and it is a national-level high-tech enterprise. In 2020, the company completed the investor-integration reform involving strategic investors. Tianyancha data shows that in March 2020, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment and Agricultural Bank of China Investment, respectively, subscribed and contributed 84 million yuan to take equity. In June of that year, Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum and Natural Gas Co., Ltd. submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, but there has been no further progress since then, and the listing was stalled. At present, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Investment holds 15.60% of the company’s shares, while Agricultural Bank of China Investment holds 7%.

Expert Suggestions:

Focus on developing exit channels such as mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, and equity transfers

Although the number of exits is increasing, industry insiders believe the AIC project exit mechanism still needs further improvement, and exit pathways must be more diversified.

Research by Wang Shuguang, a professor at Peking University’s School of Economics, and Li Yangjingzhuo, a doctoral student, shows that currently, AIC equity investment exit methods rely excessively on IPOs, and the exit process involves substantial uncertainty and long cycles. Compared with mature market-oriented investment institutions, AICs are still not mature in using exit methods such as mergers and acquisitions, enterprise share buybacks, and equity transfers. In addition, there is a deep contradiction between the banking system’s traditional tolerance for low non-performing rates and the equity investment industry’s natural high failure rate. Differences in this risk culture may cause AICs to be overly cautious in exit decisions—such as being reluctant to cut losses promptly or handle underperforming projects through transfers due to concerns about accountability, or waiting too long for stability and missing the right exit window.

The study suggests that efforts should focus on developing alternative exit channels such as mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and equity transfers, and building a multi-layer exit ecosystem. For example, at the regulatory level, introduce supporting policies to encourage science-and-technology listed companies to acquire unlisted science-and-technology innovation enterprises in AIC investments, simplify approval processes for M&A restructuring, and provide tax incentives. At the same time, actively explore a pilot program of “distributing stocks in kind for private equity and venture capital funds,” allowing AICs to distribute the stocks they hold in listed companies to investors through non-trading transfers, enriching exit instruments.

Reported and written by: Nandu Bay Finance & Media Social reporter Liu Lanlan