China’s four biggest banks have retained their hold on the Top 1000, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China remaining in the top four positions for another year. This is despite the struggles in the Chinese economy, which has been hampered by a lacklustre property sector and a decline in industrial output levels.
However, the country’s banks have enjoyed a boost from the returned strength of the renminbi against the US dollar, after a period of weakness impacted their Tier 1 capital levels in last year’s rankings. ICBC saw its Tier 1 capital increase by 5.25 per cent to $523bn, regaining its status as the only bank in the world with more than $500bn of Tier 1 capital. Second-placed CCB enjoyed an 8.15 per cent increase in Tier 1 capital to $440bn, putting it more than $83bn behind its rival ICBC.
