On March 28, 2025, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (stock code SH: 601398; HK: 1398) announced its annual results for 2024. In 2024, ICBC made solid headway in the “five transformations” of intelligent risk control, modern layout, digital driver, diversified structure and ecological foundation. ICBC actively played the role of a leading bank, and delivered a stable, higher-quality performance with sound momentum while supporting the high-quality economic recovery.
According to the International Financial Reporting Standards, in 2024, ICBC’s assets, capital and funds became more balanced and coordinated, and the core indicators of “strong, excellent, large and professional” remained stable. The resilience of “strong” continued to improve, with a CAR of 19.39%, staying ahead of peers. Allowance to NPLs was 214.91%, showing stronger risk resistance capability. Non-performing loan (“NPL”) ratio was 1.34%, indicating that asset quality remained stable. The quality of “excellent” continued to be consolidated. While continuously benefiting the real economy, ICBC’s return on average total assets (“ROA”), return on weighted average equity (“ROE”) stayed in an appropriate range, and cost-to-income ratio remained at a relatively excellent level. The contributions of “large” continued to be demonstrated. ICBC generated a net profit of RMB366.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%. Its total assets stood at RMB48.82 trillion, up 9.2% compared with the beginning of the year, maintaining a leading position in total amount. The features of “professional” were continuously revealed. ICBC stayed ahead of peers in terms of the scale of loans granted to manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, and green industries. It continued to improve private, foreign trade and merchant finance as well as the urban-rural collaborative financial services.
During the reporting period, ICBC held the first spot in the Top 1000 World Banks for the twelfth consecutive year, and remained in the first place among the Top Banking Brands for the ninth consecutive year. The Bank ranked No. 1 among national commercial banks in the steady development capability under the Gyroscope evaluation for the fourth consecutive year.
Focusing on the modern layout and serving the real economy in a targeted and effective way
Keeping in mind its principal duty and core business, ICBC continued to improve its high-quality financial supply, adhered to the integrated development strategy of investment and financing, coordinated the size and structure, growth and stock of investment and financing, so as to better serve and promote high-quality economic and social development.
Support for the real economy was strengthened. The Bank maintained a leading position in the market in terms of the size and growth of investment and financing. At the end of 2024, its domestic RMB loans reached RMB26.7 trillion, a year-on-year increase of RMB2.3 trillion. Its RMB bond investment reached RMB12.7 trillion, a year-on-year increase of RMB2.2 trillion. The amount of domestic bonds underwritten by ICBC as the lead underwriter exceeded RMB1.9 trillion in 2024.
Credit supply was well targeted. ICBC achieved rapid growth in loans granted for key areas and weak links such as manufacturing, technological innovation, green industries, inclusive finance, agriculture related industries, and private sectors. The balance of loans to the manufacturing industry reached RMB4.4 trillion, ranking first in the industry. Specifically, the balance of long and medium-term loans to the manufacturing industry reached RMB2.1 trillion. The balance of green loans exceeded RMB6 trillion, ranking first in the industry. The balance of inclusive loans reached RMB2.9 trillion, with a growth rate of nearly 30%. ICBC continued to improve financial services for private enterprises, in order to support the healthy and high-quality development of the private economy.
Services for the new quality productive forces were fully strengthened. ICBC took the lead in setting up a Head Office-level technology finance center, and carried out the Chunmiao and Qiushi special actions thoroughly. Focusing on the development of strategic emerging industries, the cultivation of future industries and the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, it enhanced the linkage of “stock, loan, bond and insurance”, and provided diversified relay-style financial services to promote the high-quality development of new quality productive forces. As at the end of 2024, the balance of loans to strategic emerging industries exceeded RMB3.1 trillion, and the balance of loans to technology enterprises amounted to nearly RMB2 trillion. ICBC made good use of policy tools such as technology renovation and equipment renewal refinancing and technological innovation refinancing, and led the industry in terms of cumulative refinancing amount. ICBC actively participated in the pilot equity investment program of financial asset investment companies (AIC), covering all pilot cities with cooperation intentions, with an intended fund size of over RMB100 billion.
ICBC served regional development in a balanced and effective manner. In serving the regional strategies of the State, financial resources were allocated between urban and rural areas and among regions in an increasingly balanced fashion. The Bank actively served all-around rural revitalization. As at the end of 2024, the balance of agriculture-related loans reached RMB4.4 trillion, up more than RMB790 billion over the beginning of the year. ICBC continued to improve integrated service channels such as county-level outlets, mobile banking, ICBC Xingnongtong APP, and ICBC e Pooling open banking, with outlets covering 87.4% of county-level regions, and more than 184 million online county-level rural customers.
Deepening the intelligent risk control and fortifying high-level security
ICBC followed the principles of early identification, warning, exposure, and resolution of risks. ICBC continued to improve the measures with a four-pronged risk management approach to people, money, defense line and bottom line, and stepped up efforts on “active prevention, smart control and comprehensive management”, so as to ensure high-quality development with high-level security and help underpin the financial stability.
Asset quality remained stable. The credit risk control system was continuously improved, and the new rules for credit approval of ICBC were thoroughly implemented, serving as “critical valves” in asset quality management. At the end of 2024, ICBC’s NPL ratio was 1.34%, down 0.02 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year. Allowance to NPLs was 214.91%, up 0.94 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year, indicating that its ability to resist risks has been continuously enhanced.
Risk control became increasingly smarter. The building of an enterprise-level intelligent risk control platform was accelerated. Based on internal and external financial and non-financial data, the functions of the platform covered enterprise-level risk view, measurement, monitoring and early warning, and decision-making, integrating machine learning, knowledge graphs, big models and other technologies, so as to promote early perception, targeted identification, timely warning, and efficient resolution of various risks, providing digital tools for comprehensive risk management and building a safe and stable benchmark for banks. ICBC strengthened data empowerment and the application of ICBC e Prevention, an independently developed product of the Bank. ICBC developed a zero-code data application platform and digital operation view, and introduced the new paradigm of data analysis with full natural language interaction, lowering the threshold of data application for users and boosting business development with intelligent and ecological credit risk management.
The capability of comprehensive risk management continued to be strengthened. The Group’s risk internal control system and mechanism were improved. ICBC further unleashed the functions of the comprehensive risk management system. ICBC strengthened information technology (IT) and network security and product risk prevention and control throughout the entire lifecycle, and enhanced risk management related to emerging fields, investment and financing partners, etc. Cross-border and cross-market risk prevention and control were enhanced, and risk response plans and management measures were improved, in order to prudently respond to global market volatility and external impacts.
Continuously gaining new momentum for high-quality development by more energetic reform and innovation
Upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, ICBC deepened reform and transformation on all fronts, and promoted innovation in key areas such as GBC+ projects and D-ICBC. ICBC, aiming to diversify its business structure, improve its operating ecosystem, and achieve a more balanced financial income and expenditure.
Digital driver functioned at a faster pace. Leveraging its FinTech advantages, ICBC accelerated the construction of D-ICBC, and launched a new 10.0 version and native HarmonyOS version of mobile banking, maintaining a leading position in terms of customer size and MAUs. The transaction value of open banking exceeded RMB375 trillion in 2024. The ECOS 2.0 digital technology ecosystem was released, and the availability rate of ICBC’s information system remained above 99.99%. An enterprise-level financial large model technology system with hundreds of billions of parameters, “ICBC Zhiyong”, was developed, leading the industry in terms of core elements such as computing power, algorithms, and data, empowering more than 20 major business areas and 200 scenarios. ICBC remained the industry leader by the number of patent grants.
Diversified structure was continuously improved. ICBC constantly refined business structure, and built a new development pattern featuring multi-point support, high efficiency and coordination. ICBC accelerated the construction of a customer structure where “large, medium, small and micro enterprises and personal customers” are coordinated. The number of corporate customers and inclusive customers increased by 1290 thousand and 620 thousand respectively. ICBC optimized business structure, and saw a continuous growth of the proportion of “retail + inclusive” loans and an increase in corporate loans, bond investments and personal loans. ICBC coordinated such business segments as the Head Office, domestic and overseas branches, and integrated subsidiaries, and continuously improved the internationalized and diversified operation management system, so as to release the Group’s operating benefits.
The foundation for creating an ecosystem-based service system was further fortified. The Bank improved operation quality and internal management, and enhanced high-quality development. ICBC solidified ecological foundation, deepened GBC+ projects, and further coordinated the capital chain, customer chain, service chain and value chain. It developed more than 49 thousand customers at the G end, 326 thousand customers at the B end, and 170 million customers at the C end in 2024. ICBC adhered to the balance among value creation, market position, risk control, and capital constraints, coordinated assets, capital and funds, deposits, loans and income, and made every effort to ensure the stability of key operating indicators, clean and healthy balance sheets, and coordination and sustainability of income statements. ICBC optimized management functions for personal credits, consumer rights protection, and risk asset operation, and continuously improved the management foundation such as corporate governance, strategic management and talent team building.
ICBC strengthened support for high-level opening-up on all fronts. To serve the building of a trade powerhouse on all fronts, ICBC accumulatively granted financing of RMB4.8 trillion to key foreign trade and foreign-funded enterprises in China. ICBC assisted in expanding the cross-border use of RMB. In 2024, its cross-border RMB business value approached nearly RMB10 trillion. ICBC developed special measures to support the building of international financial centers including Hongkong and Shanghai, and took the lead in establishing a free trade headquarters in Shanghai. It also released the first financial infrastructure construction service plan in the banking industry. ICBC optimized comprehensive financial services for cross-border e-commerce. It handled over RMB270 billion of transactions for new formats such as payment institutions and cross-border e-commerce, and served over 100 thousand small and medium-sized merchants. ICBC continued to deepen international cooperation, gave full play to the role of platforms such as the BRICS Business Council, the Belt and Road Bankers Roundtable (BRBR) and the China-Europe Business Council, actively promoted international economic, trade and investment cooperation, and provided high-quality services for the China International Import Expo (CIIE), China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), Canton Fair, China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) and other international exhibitions.
Deepening the building of a bank satisfactory to the people
ICBC gave a strong financial impetus to improving the people’s wellbeing and living standards.
Financial services became more available and convenient. As at the end of 2024, ICBC had 588 million personal mobile banking customers, with more than 260 million monthly active users (“MAUs”) on the mobile end. The supply of pension finance was increasingly improved. The Bank registered nearly RMB5 trillion in pension funds under management, maintaining a leading edge among peers. Relying on 15 thousand ICBC Sharing Stations, the Bank served nearly 10 million customers including new citizens, outdoor workers, students, and the elderly.
Service scenarios were diversified to boost domestic demand and consumer spending. In response to the new economic formats such as the first-release economy, ice and snow economy, and silver economy, ICBC took solid steps to promote commercial finance and merchant finance, and made ongoing efforts to help unleash the potential of consumer spending and ensure smooth flows in the national economy. The new ecosystem for consumer finance was improved. In 2024, the Bank’s debit card consumption transaction amount was over RMB19 trillion, and the credit card consumption amount was RMB2.13 trillion, and the ICBC e Life had 19.3 million MAUs. ICBC continued to improve payment services. A wide range of steps were taken to promote the parallel development and complementarity of various payment methods, such as bank cards, mobile payments and cash. Payment services for foreigners in China was improved, and a long-term service mechanism of RMB “Change Purse” was established, distributing over 7.1 million “Change Purses” in 2024.
Public welfare and charitable initiatives were carried out regularly. ICBC carried out charitable initiatives in various forms as a move to actively fulfill its social responsibilities and continuously enhance the influence of the Group’s “ICBC Sight Initiative” philanthropic brand. Through the “Lifeline Express” Hospital Train project, the Bank provided free surgery for over 14 thousand cataract patients. ICBC actively participated in construction of the “Childlike Innocence Harbor” centers caring for left-behind children, promoting the establishment of a sound long-term care mechanism for left-behind children in rural areas.
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