China’s banks once again take the top four positions in the Top 1000 World Banks ranking. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and Bank of China are ranked from first to fourth, respectively.
It has not been an easy time for the Chinese banks: the Covid-19 lockdowns, in place until January 2023, continued to affect performance, and the strength of the US dollar impacted overall Tier 1 capital levels. As a result, the banks have seen declines in Tier 1 capital when converted into US dollars, with ICBC seeing a 2.27% contraction and its total dip below the $500bn mark.
Further down the top 10, Bank of Communications has climbed one position to ninth place in the main ranking, pushing the UK’s HSBC down into 10th place.
Just outside the top 10 in the Top 1000 ranking, China Merchants Bank (CMB) holds steady in 11th place, and Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) has climbed one place to 12th. Industrial Bank falls one place to 17th, while Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB) and China Citic Bank maintain 18th and 19th places, respectively.
There are 140 Chinese banks in the Top 1000, the same number as recorded in the previous ranking. Tencent-owned digital-only WeBank has climbed from 331st to 284th place, while the Ant Group-owned MYBank has risen to 418th place from 482nd. Both banks posted double-digit growth in Tier 1 capital of 19.69% and 23.60%, respectively.
Among the largest 10 Chinese lenders, CMB stands out as China’s best-performing bank for the third year running. The bank ranks first across the categories of leverage, soundness, return on risk and profitability. CMB also leads among Chinese banks in the Top 1000 for return on assets (ROA), and places second in both the return on capital and capital assets ratio metrics.
ICBC, which places second for the second year in a row, was top of the cohort for operational efficiency, while ABC, in sixth position in the best-performing table, took first place for growth. Although it came 10th overall, PSBC boasted first place for asset quality and liquidity. However, the bank saw its Tier 1 capital fall by 5.77%, the second-biggest drop among the top 10 Chinese banks behind SPDB.
