Hope after the pain! Jiangxi Bank's risk clearance and resilient growth by 2025

Ask AI · How can the new management team promote the bank’s shift from risk resolution to high-quality development?

2025 is a critical year for Jiangxi Bank’s “climbing over hurdles,” and also the starting point of its “strengthening the foundation and moving forward anew.”

Produced by | China Visit Network

Reviewed by | Li Xiaoyan

As the leading city commercial bank owned by Jiangxi Province, Jiangxi Bank (01916.HK) recently released its 2025 annual report, which is not only a “pressure test” facing challenges head-on but also a “progress report” demonstrating resilience. Against the backdrop of widespread pressure on regional city commercial banks, Jiangxi Bank, despite facing short-term declines in revenue and profits, as well as dual pressures on asset quality and compliance management, is steadily moving forward with the firm guidance of its new management team, solid progress in risk resolution, unwavering service to the real economy, and dual empowerment through technology and qualifications. With the resolve of “keeping things simple and focusing on practical work,” it is digesting historical burdens, stabilizing its operational fundamentals, and exploring new avenues for transformation, demonstrating the responsibility and commitment of a provincial financial main force.

In 2025, Jiangxi Bank’s operating data show signs of short-term adjustment, which is both an objective reflection of the combined effects of macroeconomic environment, industry cycles, and legacy issues, and an inevitable pain point in its proactive process of “squeezing out water and clearing burdens.” From performance perspective, the full year achieved operating income of 9.03B yuan, a decrease of 21.89% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent was 965 million yuan, down 8.74% year-on-year. Net interest income has declined for three consecutive years, and the growth rate of net profit ranks among the lower end of listed banks with disclosed annual reports. This performance is partly influenced by factors such as the lowering of the LPR and declining market interest rates, leading to a continuous narrowing of net interest margin and sluggish growth in traditional interest income; on the other hand, it is also closely related to the bank’s ongoing efforts to reduce high-risk assets, optimize business structure, and voluntarily cede some short-term gains for long-term steady development.

In terms of asset quality and compliance, pressures are equally significant. As of the end of 2025, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio was 2.00%, down from the high of 2.36% at mid-year, but still above the industry average of 1.76% for city commercial banks; in the first half, the NPL ratio in the real estate sector once rose to 19.07%, and the provision coverage ratio approached regulatory red lines. Regarding compliance management, the bank received multiple regulatory fines throughout the year, totaling several million yuan, including a fine of 1.06 million yuan in October for violations in credit reporting management, exposing ongoing issues in internal control management. In the capital market, as of March 27, the stock price was HKD 0.66 per share, with a total market value of less than HKD 4 billion, experiencing a significant decline since listing, with a persistently low price-to-book ratio, and investor confidence needing repair. Additionally, around 2022, senior executives including the former chairman and vice president were successively removed from their posts, and the former president was dismissed, causing significant management upheaval. The ongoing legacy risks from this period continue to impact the bank’s recovery, becoming a key factor constraining its rapid revival.

Despite short-term pressures, Jiangxi Bank’s operational highlights in 2025 are also clearly visible, with multiple core indicators showing steady progress, reflecting the bank’s solid foundation and strong resilience as a provincial legal entity bank. Its scale remains stable, and the customer base continues to deepen. By the end of 2025, total assets reached 589.22B yuan, showing steady growth; deposits and loans expanded in tandem, with core liabilities and assets maintaining robust growth, providing solid funding support for risk management and business expansion, and confirming that customer trust remains strong. The effectiveness of risk resolution is evident, with marginal improvements in asset quality.

Most notably, the significant reduction in non-performing loans in the real estate sector, with the NPL ratio dropping sharply from 17.81% at the beginning of the year to 3.34% at year-end, a decrease of over 14 percentage points, becoming the core driver of asset quality improvement. Meanwhile, the NPL ratio retreated from its mid-year high, with the total amount of non-performing and overdue loans steadily declining, and the provision coverage ratio gradually returning to a reasonable range. The bank’s risk resistance capability continues to recover, and the strategic goal of “squeezing out water and clearing burdens” has achieved phased success. Local government support remains strong, providing more confidence for development. In March 2026, Jiangxi Bank successfully won a bid for RMB 1.64B in provincial treasury cash management, fully demonstrating the firm support of local governments for provincial legal banks, injecting “confidence boosters” into liquidity management and business deployment. As Jiangxi’s largest local legal city commercial bank, its “provincial legal” status is an unmatched core competitive advantage.

Facing operational pressures, Jiangxi Bank remains committed to its original mission of “serving the people and supporting local development,” channeling resources precisely into key areas and weak links of the real economy, nourishing Jiangxi’s high-quality economic growth with financial vitality. Cost reduction and burden alleviation directly benefit the real economy, and optimizing the business environment adds warmth. To address issues of “opaque and costly” corporate financing, the bank has continuously piloted transparent comprehensive financing cost disclosures for enterprises, issuing over 1,500 “loan transparency sheets” throughout the year, making corporate financing costs “sunshine-visible.” It also proactively bears nearly one billion yuan in expenses such as mortgage registration and appraisal fees for enterprises, effectively reducing overall financing costs and helping small and micro enterprises overcome difficulties and develop. In terms of technological finance, targeted efforts are made to empower innovation. Focusing on the pain points of “light assets and financing difficulties” faced by tech companies, the bank increased its financial support for technology enterprises. By the end of 2025, the balance of loans to tech companies reached 23.56B yuan, a 40.75% increase from the previous year-end, far surpassing the growth rate of other loan categories, providing strong financial backing for Jiangxi’s technological innovation and industrial upgrading. The bank’s professional qualifications have also been further enhanced, opening new space for business expansion.

In March 2025, Jiangxi Bank successfully obtained the qualification as an independent lead underwriter, marking its recognized professional capability in bond underwriting and capital market services by regulators, injecting new momentum into expanding its investment banking business, serving local governments and enterprises’ direct financing, and optimizing income structure. With honors and recognition of strength, its market position continues to consolidate. In 2025, Jiangxi Bank was again ranked 16th in the “Top 100 Jiangxi Enterprises,” a recognition that affirms its operational strength and industry influence, and highlights its core position in Jiangxi’s economic and financial landscape.

2025 is a pivotal year for Jiangxi Bank’s “climbing over hurdles,” and also the beginning of its “strengthening the foundation and moving forward anew.” The new management team, with deep regulatory backgrounds and professional expertise, is advancing with the principles of “compliance first, risk-based, steady operation, and innovation-driven,” accelerating the bank’s shift from “risk resolution” to “high-quality development.” The compliance and risk control systems are continuously improved by optimizing the “compliance, risk, and audit” three major systems, embedding compliance management into all business lines through a “deputy system,” implementing comprehensive risk management processes that are standardized and procedural, and refining the “headquarters + branches + specialized posts” three-tier audit framework. This forms a closed-loop mechanism of “discovery - accountability - rectification - review,” building a risk defense line from the source. Digital transformation accelerates, with the rapid development of six major platforms including business middle-office, intelligent risk control, and mobile operations. The new generation credit system has been launched, enabling online loan applications, convenient approvals, and precise risk control, with process efficiency up by 26%, over 103k automated approvals, and 14k high-risk transactions intercepted, empowering business quality and risk management through technology. Talent and governance are driven by dual engines, with a strong implementation of the “talent-driven development” strategy, promoting full-chain “selection, cultivation, management, and utilization” of cadres and talents, establishing dual channels for positions and ranks, and improving talent pipelines to support transformation and development; adhering to the Party’s overall leadership over financial work, integrating Party building to enhance governance efficiency, continuously promoting integrity and anti-corruption, and creating a clean and upright business environment.

The road is long and arduous, but perseverance will lead to the destination; continuous effort makes the future promising. Jiangxi Bank’s development in 2025 is a history of facing challenges and taking responsibility, as well as a growth story of staying true to the original mission and working diligently. Short-term fluctuations and risk pressures are “growing pains” in its transformation process, not “desperate straits.” With the advantage of its provincial legal status, the professional guidance of its new management, solid results in risk resolution, unwavering service to the real economy, and dual empowerment through technology and qualifications, Jiangxi Bank is gradually emerging from its historical lows and embarking on a new journey of high-quality development. As Chairman Zeng Hui stated in the annual report, “The大道至简，实干为要” (The path is simple, practical work is essential). In the future, as long as Jiangxi Bank continues to uphold compliance, steadily resolve existing risks, serve the real economy with dedication, and move forward with determination, it will surely overcome cycles and difficulties, achieve a phoenix rebirth, and become a “financial main force” supporting Jiangxi’s economic and social development, living up to the mission and expectations of being “the bank of the people of Jiangxi.”

Personal opinion, for reference only.