Overview of Asset Quality of 22 A-Share Listed Banks: Corporate Loans Generally Improving, Several Banks Experience Rising Non-Performing Personal Mortgage Rates

Each Daily Reporter｜Zhao Jingzhi    Each Daily Editor｜Huang Sheng

As of March 31, among the 42 listed banks in the A-share market, 22 have already released their 2025 “report cards,” including the six largest state-owned banks, all of which have made their appearances.

Judging from the annual reports, the asset quality of listed banks shows a stable-to-improving trend overall. For most banks, their non-performing loan (NPL) ratios are basically flat or have improved compared with last year. Four banks saw a slight increase, but the overall pattern remains positive.

However, regarding changes in structure, the reporter noted that some listed banks saw their non-performing rates for real estate in their corporate lending rise. In addition, the overall NPL ratio for retail loans at banks is still increasing, and multiple banks also saw their NPL ratios for individual home loans rise.

Overall improving asset quality for listed banks

Asset quality is the “lifeline” of commercial banks. High-quality asset performance means the bank’s assets can be collected on time for principal and interest, and it has stronger risk-resistance capacity, thereby ensuring the bank’s steady operations and sustainable development.

Based on the annual reports already disclosed, the asset quality of the 22 listed banks overall shows an improving trend, which aligns with the data released by the National Financial Regulatory Administration. In 2025, NPL ratios across all types of banks improved. Among them, rural commercial banks improved the most: the NPL ratio in the fourth quarter fell by 0.14 percentage points from the first quarter to 2.72%.

As the sector’s stabilizer, the six largest state-owned banks have performed particularly well. Except for Postal Savings Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications all recorded year-on-year decreases in their overall non-performing loan ratios. The magnitude of the declines clustered between 0.02 and 0.03 percentage points. Specifically, ICBC and CCB both had NPL ratios of 1.31%; BOCOM had 1.28%, ABC had 1.27%, and BOC had 1.23%, all staying at relatively low levels.

There are currently nine joint-stock banks that have disclosed their annual reports: China Merchants Bank, Ping An Bank, Industrial Bank, CITIC Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Everbright Bank, Zhejiang Commercial Bank, China Minsheng Bank, and Huaxia Bank. Among them, China Minsheng Bank, Industrial Bank, and Everbright Bank saw their NPL ratios rise slightly by 0.02, 0.01, and 0.02 percentage points to 1.49%, 1.08%, and 1.27%, respectively; the other six banks saw their NPL ratios decline compared with the end of the previous year.

Among regional banks, currently 7 banks have disclosed their NPL ratios: Zhengzhou Bank, Chongqing Bank, Yuzhou Rural Commercial Bank, R&F Bank, Qingdao Bank, Zhangjiagang Bank, and Wuxi Bank. Among them, R&F Bank’s NPL ratio edged up by 0.02 percentage points to 0.99%; for the other banks, their NPL ratios remained flat year over year or declined.

Corporate NPL ratio declines, but real estate loan NPL ratio remains relatively high

According to an analysis by Ni Jun, a research analyst at GF Securities, among the 22 listed banks that have released annual reports, last year’s corporate NPL ratio decreased by 0.14 percentage points from the end of the previous year to 1.07%. Among them, NPL ratio declines were significant in broad infrastructure construction, wholesale and retail industries, and the manufacturing industry. By industry, in 2025, the corporate real estate loan NPL ratio of commercial banks remained relatively high. The next highest were wholesale and retail industries, construction, and manufacturing. In addition, under the deleveraging and debt-reduction backdrop, loan quality in the infrastructure sector has generally been good, and the NPL ratio continued to fall.

Regarding corporate real estate loans, different banks show large differences in their performance in the corporate real estate loan space, displaying a “polarization” trend.

Taking Zhengzhou Bank as an example: its non-performing loan ratio for the real estate industry was 9.55% in 2024, and in 2025 it fell to 5.11%, a decline of 4.44 percentage points. In addition, the bank’s non-performing amount in real estate also dropped from 2.12B yuan in 2024 to 941M yuan in 2025, a decline of more than 50%. China Minsheng Bank’s total non-performing loans in the real estate industry also fell sharply from 16.69 billion yuan to 11.74 billion yuan, which drove the real estate NPL ratio down from 5.01% to 3.61%.

But some banks still face pressure as real estate NPL ratios rise. For example, Chongqing Bank and ICBC both recorded declines in real estate NPL ratios in 2024, falling to 5.63% and 4.99%, respectively; however, in 2025, they rose by 2.12 percentage points and 0.4 percentage points, respectively, reaching 7.75% and 5.39%.

For individual housing loans, according to Wind data, the NPL ratios of multiple banks with relevant information already disclosed have increased. Only China Minsheng Bank’s NPL ratio decreased, while Industrial Bank’s NPL ratio was flat with the previous year.

Among them, Zhengzhou Bank rose from 1.04% to 1.28%; ICBC rose from 0.73% to 1.06%; Bank of Communications rose from 0.58% to 1.01%; Agricultural Bank of China rose from 0.73% to 0.92%; China Construction Bank rose from 0.63% to 0.89%; Postal Savings Bank rose from 0.64% to 0.69%; and China Merchants Bank rose from 0.48% to 0.51%.

The reporter noted that at this year’s performance conference, Wang Jingwu, vice president of ICBC, said that the bank’s asset quality for personal loans has long been excellent. In the past two years, due to factors such as economic restructuring, adjustments in the real estate market, and temporary imbalances in supply and demand, the NPL ratio has risen in the short term, consistent with the industry’s overall trend.

Individual home-loan NPL ratio generally rising

Compared with corporate lending, the pressure in the retail lending sector is more widespread. The NPL ratios for retail loans at multiple banks have continued to rise, and individual housing loans are one of the main points of pressure.

According to Wind data, among the banks with disclosed information, only China Minsheng Bank’s NPL ratio for personal home loans declined, while Industrial Bank’s NPL ratio was flat with the previous year; the rest all saw increases to varying degrees.

Specifically, Zhengzhou Bank’s NPL ratio for personal home loans rose from 1.04% to 1.28%; ICBC rose from 0.73% to 1.06%; Bank of Communications rose from 0.58% to 1.01%; Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Postal Savings Bank, and China Merchants Bank also all saw slight increases. Among them, at the performance conference, ICBC’s vice president Wang Jingwu explained that the asset quality of the bank’s personal-loan portfolio has long been strong. In the past two years, due to factors such as economic restructuring and real estate market adjustments, the NPL ratio has risen in the short term, consistent with the industry’s overall trend.

In addition to personal home loans, risks across the entire retail lending segment are rising. Ni Jun said that in 2025, the retail NPL ratio increased by 0.24 percentage points from the beginning of the year to 1.71%. Among them, the NPL ratios for credit cards, consumer loans, and mortgage loans rose by 0.12, 0.10, and 0.07 percentage points, respectively; different business lines are facing certain risk pressure.

As a representative of retail banks, China Merchants Bank’s performance is quite representative: its NPL ratio for micro and small loans jumped significantly from 0.79% to 1.22%; its NPL ratio for individual home loans edged up from 0.48% to 0.51%; and only the NPL ratio for consumer loans declined slightly. The bank’s Chief Risk Officer, Xu Mingjie, acknowledged that this year the risks across the entire retail credit market are still in an upward period, and there is also certain pressure on the asset quality of credit cards. China Merchants Bank will also take proactive measures to control the risks in retail credit and ensure that the quality of retail credit is basically controllable.

Cover image source: AIGC