Net profit increased by over 70%, approaching the 10 billion yuan mark! Hong Kong stock IPO underwriting once again takes the lead, with China International Capital Corporation closely monitoring global pricing power.

Ask AI · Competing for Global Pricing Power and the Right to Speak, What Key Challenges Does CICC Face?

Source: Times Weekly Author: Li Qiannan, Lu Yongzhi

Image source: TuChong Creative

On the evening of March 30, CICC (601995.SH; 03908.HK) disclosed its 2025 annual report, and both operating revenue and net profit achieved double-digit growth.

According to the annual report, in 2025 CICC achieved operating revenue of 28.481 billion yuan, up 33.50% year on year; it achieved net profit attributable to shareholders of 9.791 billion yuan, up 71.93% year on year; and it achieved non-GAAP net profit of 9.657 billion yuan, up 70.73% year on year.

In 2025, the company’s net cash flow from operating activities was 71.076 billion yuan, up 69.74% year on year. By the end of 2025, the company’s total assets were 782.826 billion yuan, up 16.02% year on year.

Economist Pan Helin, in an interview with Times Weekly’s reporter, said that CICC’s profit growth has a positive correlation with the stock market’s bull market in 2025. Due to the rise in the stock market, CICC’s stock brokerage business and investment banking business saw a clear boost. The stock market creates a wealth effect, so investors are more willing to entrust funds to CICC for wealth management.

Hong Kong Stock IPO Underwriting Scale Ranks First

Times Weekly’s reporter found that CICC’s main earnings come from wealth management and equity businesses. In 2025, the company’s wealth management business operating revenue reached 9.489 billion yuan, ranking first among the seven major business categories, with an operating profit margin of 38.55%; its equity business operating revenue reached 7.345 billion yuan, ranking second among the seven categories, with an operating profit margin of 80.91%.

CICC adheres to the “investment + investment banking + research” integrated mechanism, so it pays special attention to investment banking business. In 2025, the company’s investment banking business operating revenue was 4.597 billion yuan, ranking third among the seven major business categories, with an operating profit margin of 42.63%. The company’s influence in the industry is largely because of the strong professional capability of its investment banking underwriting business, especially its extensive experience in Hong Kong IPO projects.

In terms of equity financing in investment banking, in 2025, CICC served a total of 56 global IPOs of Chinese-funded companies, with a financing size of 26.783 billion US dollars, ranking first in the market. The company, as the lead underwriter, completed 7 A-share IPO projects with a lead underwriting amount of 16.238 billion yuan; as the lead underwriter, it completed 18 refinancing projects with a lead underwriting amount of 91.922 billion yuan.

One of CICC’s strategic directions is to globalize its business, and investment banking business related to the Hong Kong market is viewed as a key focus. In 2025, CICC, as sponsor and lead underwriter, underwrote 41 Hong Kong IPO projects, completed projects such as CATL, Seres, Sanhua Zhikong, and Haitian Flavoring, with a lead underwriting scale of 7.900 billion US dollars, ranking first in the market; as global coordinator, it underwrote 52 Hong Kong IPO projects with a lead underwriting scale of 5.666 billion US dollars, ranking first in the market; as bookrunner, it underwrote 52 Hong Kong IPO projects with a lead underwriting scale of 3.491 billion US dollars, ranking first in the market. In addition, as bookrunner, it underwrote 27 Hong Kong refinancing and share sale projects with a lead underwriting scale of 3.934 billion US dollars.

It is worth noting that when outlining its 2026 equity financing business, CICC said that besides consolidating major IPO projects, its equity financing business will cover more shoulder and waist-region companies to enhance its comprehensive service capabilities. In Hong Kong, the company will maintain its existing advantages and continue to promote the implementation of major IPO projects.

In debt financing, both CICC’s bond underwriting scale in Mainland China and overseas increased. In 2025, CICC’s bond underwriting scale in Mainland China was 8250.35 billion yuan, up 16.1% year on year; its overseas bond underwriting scale was 5.969 billion US dollars, up 12.8% year on year.

In addition, CICC’s debt financing and asset securitization businesses have made achievements in helping the bond market develop high quality. By the end of 2025, CICC ranked fourth in Mainland bond underwriting by industry ranking; ranked first in exchange-traded REITs listing participation by participation scale; ranked second in infrastructure public REITs project management by project management scale; and ranked first among Chinese underwriters in offshore bond underwriting by underwriting scale for overseas bonds of Chinese issuers.

In its annual report, CICC put forward its outlook for 2026 debt financing business, saying it will increase resource input into REITs business, vigorously promote green bonds, sci-tech innovation bonds, rural revitalization bonds, and “Belt and Road” bonds, seize the historical opportunity of RMB internationalization, do a good job in the international business layout, and maintain a leading position in the overseas bond and Panda bond markets.

Pan Helin said that CICC benefits from monetary easing and a strong stock market, and that its earnings have a certain cyclical characteristic, which shows that CICC has seized cyclical investment opportunities and achieved solid performance. Of course, it needs to be noted that global macroeconomic fluctuations have increased, and whether it can maintain its earnings advantage in 2026 depends on CICC improving the rationality of its asset allocation. But overall, CICC is a financial institution with a very high level of professionalism, and in response to market volatility, it is believed that the company can stay on track and do well.

From “Chinese capital going abroad” to “Contending for global pricing discourse and the right to speak”

By the end of 2025, CICC had several subsidiaries in Mainland China, including CICC Wealth Securities, CICC Capital Operations, CICC Private Equity, CICC Fund, and CICC Futures, among others. The company has branch offices in cities including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Chengdu, and Hangzhou. CICC and its subsidiaries have more than 200 securities business outlets across 28 regions in Mainland China.

With the continuous expansion of its business scope, CICC has set up subsidiaries or branch offices in places including Hong Kong, New York, London, Singapore, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Vietnam, and Dubai, and its international network has continued to grow.

CICC President Wang Shuguang clearly stated that by deeply participating in cross-border investment and financing, China can shift from being an “acceptor” of international rules to a “co-builder,” thereby enhancing China’s right to speak on pricing in the global context.

Last December, Wang Shuguang also stated publicly that the contest for global pricing power and the right to speak is a protracted war that tests “institutional resilience, professional depth, and strategic resolve,” involving systemic, ecological, and comprehensive engagements. Chinese investment banks must deeply integrate into high-level institutional opening of capital markets, explain the long-term development logic of China’s economy to global investors, and guide international capital to change from “seeing” China’s market to “understanding, trusting, and investing.”

In cross-border business, the annual report shows that the company has long served Chinese enterprises’ “going out,” and the “bringing in” of industrial and financial capital. It has achieved a certain leading position in areas such as overseas IPOs of Chinese enterprises, overseas bond issuance, and cross-border M&A, and maintains good development momentum in emerging areas such as cross-border transactions and connectivity. The company continues to consolidate and enhance the status of Hong Kong as an international financial hub and will win more influence and pricing power in international capital markets.

In recent years, CICC has upgraded its internationalization goal from merely “Chinese capital going abroad” to contending for global asset pricing power and the right to speak. The company is not limited to strategic rhetoric, but focuses on practical execution. On August 28, 2025, CICC helped Jiaxin International Resources to list simultaneously on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange main board and the “Belt and Road” board of the Astana International Exchange, with a pre-greenshoe offering size of 153 million US dollars and a post-greenshoe offering size of 176 million US dollars (assuming full exercise of the greenshoe option).

It is understood that CICC served as the exclusive sponsor, overall coordinator, joint global coordinator, joint bookrunner, and joint lead managing person for the above project. This project was the first global case of a simultaneous listing on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Kazakhstan’s Astana International Exchange, the first RMB-denominated stock in Central Asia from the region, and the first Hong Kong listing focused on tungsten mine extraction as its primary business.

The annual report states that CICC’s domestic and overseas businesses have seamless connections. The teams also possess experience in both domestic and overseas operations and hold relevant qualifications in several regions both inside and outside Mainland China. In November 2025, CICC helped the Ministry of Finance successfully issue 4.0 billion US dollars in sovereign bonds. This issuance further consolidated the normalized issuance mechanism for offshore sovereign bonds, helped improve the yield curve for offshore sovereign bonds, provided a pricing reference for Chinese enterprises’ financing in international markets, and effectively supported overseas fundraising for Chinese companies.