In 1987, China Merchants Bank (CMB) was founded in Shekou Shenzhen by China Merchants Group. CMB is the first joint-stock commercial bank wholly owned by corporate legal entities in Chinese mainland. After 37 years of growth, it has evolved into a banking group listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, with financial licenses covering commercial banking, financial leasing, fund management, life insurance, overseas investment banking, consumer finance, and wealth management subsidiary, etc. As at the end of June 2024, CMB had 143 branches (including Free Trade Zone branch, etc.) and 1,794 sub-branches, covering over 130 cities in Chinese mainland. For overseas markets, CMB had six branches and two representative offices. Total number of employees exceeded 110,000. In 2024, CMB ranked 179th on the Fortune Global 500 List, and 10th on the list of "Top 1,000 World Banks" released by The Banker (UK). 

Since its inception, CMB has kept in mind the original aspiration of "building a real commercial bank for China", adhered to the principle of staying market-oriented, customer-centric, tech-driven, and expert-led, and promoted continuous social and economic progress through its own transformation and development: it took the lead in launching "All-in-One Card", making cash withdrawals and deposits possible across the nation and guiding the industry out of the bankbook era; it was the first to measure AUM (assets under management) instead of deposits, introducing diversified allocation for social wealth; it pioneered the exploration of "integrating investment banking and commercial banking businesses", serving customers’ needs of comprehensive and differentiated solutions.

In 2024, CMB continued to adhere to the operation philosophy which “takes quality as the foundation and profitability as priority, while maintaining moderate scale and reasonable structure”. Focusing on the strategic objective of building a value creation bank, CMB strived to create a new high-quality development model driven by “adopting strict management and upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground”, built up distinctive and differentiated advantages, thereby further enhancing its market competitiveness. As at the end of June 2024, CMB's total assets reached RMB11.57 trillion, ranking 7th in domestic banking industry. Net operating income was RMB172.9 billion, ranking 6th in the industry, while net profit attributable to the Bank’s shareholders was RMB74.7 billion, ranking 5th in the industry. The return on average assets (ROAA) and the return on average equity (ROAE) were 1.32% and 15.44% respectively, both ranking 1st among large- and medium-sized listed banks in domestic market.

CMB adheres to a differentiation development strategy. While maintaining retail finance as its foundation as well as strategic core, CMB continues to promote the four major sectors, namely “retail finance, corporate finance, investment banking and financial markets, wealth management and asset management”, to form a balanced and coordinated development pattern with distinctive features.

For retail finance business, CMB continues to manifest its systematic advantages. As at the end of June 2024, CMB had over 200 million retail customers with an AUM exceeding RMB14 trillion. It also topped the industry in terms of transaction value of the credit card business. The two Apps, namely CMB App and CMB Life App, recorded a combined MAU (monthly active users) of 117 million.

For corporate finance business, CMB continues to strengthen its differentiated advantages. As at the end of June 2024, CMB had 2.97 million corporate customers, with an FPA (financing products aggregate to corporate customers) reaching RMB5.99 trillion. CMB accelerates to construct distinctive financial service systems centering the “five priorities”, namely sci-tech finance, green finance, inclusive finance, retirement finance and digital finance , realizing rapid loan growth in corresponding fields. 

For investment banking and financial markets business, CMB continues to consolidate its leading advantages, being one of the top market players in M&A financing, bond underwriting, bond trading, bill business and other specialized sectors. 

For wealth management and asset management business, CMB continues to improve its capability, with the number of customers holding retail wealth management products exceeding 54 million and the number of private banking customers exceeding 150,000. The holding volume of agency distribution of wealth management products, as well as mutual fund products ranked top in the industry. The scale of asset management business totaled RMB4.46 trillion. The scale of assets under custody exceeded RMB22 trillion, ranking among the top in the industry. 

Meanwhile, CMB accelerated the construction of “Digital CMB”. Focusing on online, data-based, intelligent, platform-based and ecological operation, with “AI+finance” as the key focus, CMB strengthened the exploration of cutting-edge technology application, enhanced employees’ digital capabilities, and promoted innovation in products, models and businesses by technological innovation, accelerating the transition from “Online CMB” to “Smart CMB”.

Looking towards the future, CMB will stride in tandem with the times and align with the direction of the Chinese path to modernization. CMB will stick to the strategic goal of building a value creation bank, and create comprehensive value for customers, employees, shareholders, partners and society. CMB will forge ahead on the path of high-quality development to achieve the strategic goal of building a world-class commercial bank. It will explore the CMB example for financial development with Chinese characteristics, and contribute to the efforts of the construction of a financial powerhouse.