Reporter Cai Yuekun

Where do we have channel business? We have already transformed and upgraded to service trust business; where do we have platform business now? We provide market-oriented financing services to local state-owned enterprises that undertake infrastructure investment and financing functions and support their industrial transformation. We are serving the real economy

Recently, Zheng Zhi, the founding director of Zhixin Asset Management Research Institute, used multiple rhetorical questions with a hint of self mockery when talking about the current situation of the trust industry. Behind the self mockery, the current development status of the trust industry is revealed. As the three traditional profit pillars of the trust industry, namely channels, real estate, and urban investment, shrink one after another, transformation is no longer a choice for trust institutions, but a lifeline.

As of May 14, 2026, 58 trust companies have disclosed their 2025 annual reports, showing a significant increase in performance differentiation. According to the research report of COFCO Trust, the average net profit of the top ten trust companies in 2025 is 1.673 billion yuan, a slight increase of 0.47% against the trend, while the industry average net profit has decreased significantly by 10.54%; The net profit scale of the top ten companies has reached 4.21 times the industry average. According to the parent company's calculation, there are still six trust institutions, including Aijian Trust, Hua'ao Trust, and Hang Gongshang Trust, experiencing losses.

On May 14, 2026, a trust industry professional with over ten years of experience told reporters that institutions that have completed the transformation first and actively responded to regulatory upgrades have relatively stable performance; Trust companies with lagging business structure adjustments are facing a severe contraction in revenue and net profit. COFCO Trust believes that top institutions, relying on their resource endowment and first mover advantage in transformation, not only lead by a significant margin in absolute value, but also outperform the industry average in growth rate, leading to accelerated concentration of industry resources and market share towards the top, and the Matthew effect is becoming increasingly severe.

The Matthew Effect is intensifying

The performance of the trust industry in 2025 presents a differentiated pattern of "strong head and weak tail", and the industry concentration will further increase.

According to the research report of COFCO Trust, the top ten trust institutions in terms of operating income are: Yingda Trust, CITIC Trust, Huaxin Trust, China Resources Trust, Jiangsu Trust, Huaneng Trust, Shaanxi Guotou, Shanghai Trust, Zhongcheng Trust, and Foreign Trade Trust; The top ten trust institutions in terms of net profit are: Yingda Trust, Jiangsu Trust, China Resources Trust, Huaxin Trust, Shaanxi Guotou, Huaneng Trust, Zijin Trust, CITIC Trust, Yuecai Trust, and Huabao Trust.

Overall, in terms of revenue, although the industry's average revenue slightly increased to 1.161 billion yuan, the median dropped to 884 million yuan. The top ten rankings show high stability, with only one change occurring, which is the replacement of CCB Trust by Foreign Trade Trust. The average revenue of the top ten companies reached 3.172 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.50%, which is 2.73 times the industry average growth rate of 4.97%. In terms of market share, the proportion of revenue of the top ten trust companies in the industry's total revenue has increased from 43.96% to 47.10%, while the proportion of net profit has soared from 64.57% to 72.52%.

COFCO Trust pointed out that this performance indicates that the growth momentum is highly concentrated in top institutions. The characteristic of "leading the rise at the head and dragging down at the tail" is more prominent on the profit side.

In addition, according to the five dimensions of capital strength, profitability, business ability, wealth management ability, and risk resistance ability, the "top trust" CITIC Trust ranked first in the industry with a revenue of 6.326 billion yuan and a net profit of 3.052 billion yuan in 2025. Among them, the scale of asset service trust reached 1.80 trillion yuan, and the scale of asset management trust reached 1.94 trillion yuan, with no obvious shortcomings. China Resources Trust ranks second, maintaining industry-leading financial and profitability capabilities, and firmly occupying the first tier. Jiangsu Trust remains in third place, with a trust asset size of 1.10 trillion yuan. Shanghai Trust remains in fourth place with a trust asset size of 1.46 trillion yuan, ranking first in the industry in terms of business capabilities. The scale and quality advantages of actively managing business are outstanding, and the wealth management account size has exceeded 100 billion yuan; Yingda Trust ranks fifth, with a significant increase of four places year-on-year, becoming a "dark horse" in the top tier and ranking first in the industry in terms of profitability.

Taking the top trust Huaneng Trust as an example, Economic Observer reporters learned that as one of the earliest trust companies in China to implement business transformation, it has actively shaken off its dependence on traditional businesses such as real estate, government financing platforms, and channels since 2015, and firmly embarked on the path of transformation. In 2025, Huaneng Trust will achieve a total operating revenue of 3.022 billion yuan and a net profit of 1.212 billion yuan for its parent company, ranking among the top ten in the industry in terms of revenue and net profit, and maintaining its position in the first tier.

The Research Institute of UFIDA believes that the overall pattern of the top ten trust companies in terms of comprehensive strength remains stable, with only minor reshuffles in certain areas. Trust companies backed by state-owned enterprises, relying on shareholder resources, capital strength, and the advantage of being a first mover in transformation, continue to occupy a dominant position, further consolidating their comprehensive competitive advantages, and presenting a distinct trend of "the strong remain strong, and distinctive breakthroughs". Among the top ten trust companies in terms of net profit by 2025, state-owned trust companies such as CITIC, China Resources, and CCB account for the majority. With strong shareholder resources, sufficient capital strength, and forward-looking transformation layout, they have a first mover advantage in their original businesses such as standard trust and asset service trust. The comprehensive advantages of top institutions will continue to expand and become the core force leading the industry's transformation and development.

Increasing income without increasing profits

On the other hand, in the context of the collective transformation of the trust industry, the performance of trust institutions in 2025 will also show a differentiated trend of revenue recovery and profit pressure.

According to a research report by COFCO Trust, the revenue side of the trust industry has shown signs of stabilization in 2025. A total of 58 trust companies achieved a revenue of 67.343 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.01%, reversing the previous downward trend. This is mainly due to proactive management transformation, increased volume of standard business, and improvement in inherent business revenue. From a structural perspective, 33 trust companies have achieved positive revenue growth or narrowed losses, accounting for 56.9%, but there are still clear differentiation characteristics: top institutions have achieved breakthroughs, with two companies' revenue exceeding 4 billion yuan, and although the number of loss making companies has decreased, some have expanded their losses by more than 100%.

In addition, the net profit side has not yet emerged from the downward channel, with the industry's average net profit decreasing by 10.54% year-on-year to 398 million yuan, and the median significantly decreasing by 28.93% to 252 million yuan, indicating that the overall industry profit is still bottoming out.

Puyi Standard researcher He Hanwen stated in an interview with reporters that the phenomenon of revenue recovery and profit pressure in the trust industry reflects the effectiveness and pain of industry transformation. Firstly, although the new business model has expanded its revenue sources, its profitability has not yet been fully unleashed; The second is the rigid growth of transformation investment, which leads to cost first and results in net profit lagging behind revenue; Thirdly, the original business requires a long period of cultivation and customer accumulation, which may lead to short-term financial pressure; Fourthly, the historical burden is still being cleared, and the provision for risk assets continues to erode profits. At present, the industry is in the stage of 'three phases superposition' of business momentum switching, profit structure transformation, and intensified industry differentiation. Its core goal is to continuously lay a solid foundation for the healthy and long-term development of the industry, but the short-term profit model still needs further polishing, "said He Hanwen.

Accelerated Risk Exposure

From the perspective of trust companies ranked at the bottom of the performance rankings in 2025, multiple institutions have experienced problems such as shrinking trust asset scale and significant losses in profits, highlighting the accelerating exposure of risks in tail trust institutions.

According to data from COFCO Trust, among the 58 trust institutions, Shanxi Trust, Xingye Trust, Minmetals Trust, Hua'ao Trust, Hang Gongshang Trust, and Aijian Trust, calculated from the perspective of their parent companies, suffered losses in their performance in 2025, with net profits of -0.7 billion yuan, -175 million yuan, -806 million yuan, -945 million yuan, -1343 million yuan, and -1625 million yuan, respectively.

In addition, the net profit attributable to the parent company of Ping An Trust in 2025 is 1.547 billion yuan, while the consolidated net profit is 4.58 billion yuan, which is significantly different. A trust industry insider explained to reporters that the consolidation scope of Ping An Trust covers partial equity of core financial assets such as Ping An Securities and Ping An Fund. These subsidiaries contributed profits in the consolidated financial statements, resulting in a significant gap between the parent company's net profit and the consolidated net profit.

In addition, against the backdrop of industry development with strong and weak differentiation and varying levels of warmth and coldness, there are still 9 trust institutions facing difficulties in producing their 2025 annual reports. These institutions may have been unable to release annual reports normally for several consecutive years due to various historical burdens, operational risks, and governance issues. These institutions are: Zhongrong Trust, AVIC Trust, Everbright Trust, Beijing Trust, Sichuan Trust, Huaxin Trust, New Era Trust, Cedar Trust, and Minsheng Trust.

The Research Institute of UFIDA pointed out that some institutions have experienced a decline in multiple core operating indicators, mainly due to the continuous deterioration of their profitability caused by the contraction and lagging transformation of their traditional businesses. The active management of their businesses has severely shrunk, and the transformation work has come to a standstill, resulting in increasing operational pressure; On the other hand, its risk exposure has led to a continuous deterioration of asset quality, with a significant increase in impairment provisions for traditional real estate and government credit projects, causing operational difficulties.

The Research Institute of UFIDA believes that the accelerated clearance of risks and the ability to resist risks have become the bottom line for the survival of trust institutions. Some institutions have experienced negative scores on multiple indicators and significant losses in profits, reflecting the dual pressure of risk management and transformation. In the future, institutions with insufficient capital, weak risk control, and lagging transformation may face stricter regulatory constraints.

Regarding the future transformation of trust institutions, He Hanwen believes that in the context of the industry's continued trend of "increasing income without increasing profits", trust institutions need to break away from the mindset of short-term profit recovery and focus on shaping their core competitiveness in the medium and long term and exploring differentiation tracks. What trust institutions need to do now is to strengthen their proactive management and investment research capabilities, rely on the cross market allocation advantages of the trust system, improve the investment research system, and create unique advantages in the asset management industry; The second is to strengthen the ability of entrusted services, anchor key areas, build a full chain service capability, and form a positive interaction with asset management trust business; The third is technology empowerment, promoting digital transformation, and addressing the sustainable development issues of large-scale operations; The fourth is to deepen the differentiation and specialization track, based on shareholder background and business accumulation, and form professional barriers in segmented fields.