Economic Observer reporter Lao Yingying

On June 25th, the 2025 shareholders' meeting of China Merchants Bank (600036.SH/03968. HK) was held in Shenzhen. Wang Xiaoqing, the proposed president of the bank, stated at the shareholders' meeting that China Merchants Bank faces many challenges, some of which are common factors in the industry. For example, under low interest rate cycles, the net interest margin narrows, the financial industry reduces fees and offers to better support the real economy, and some customers in the retail business have reduced their repayment ability.

Wang Xiaoqing also mentioned that for China Merchants Bank, there are some structural factors: firstly, the high proportion of demand deposits limits the reduction of debt costs in a low interest rate environment, while the asset side will decrease synchronously with the decline of market returns; Secondly, China Merchants Bank is characterized by its retail business, with a high proportion of non interest bearing businesses. Under the background of fee reduction and profit sharing, there is greater pressure at this stage; The third factor is the high proportion of retail credit assets, which has been greatly impacted during the period of pressure on retail credit business risks.

In the face of challenges, Wang Xiaoqing believes that there are still many aspects that can be refined and perfected: firstly, there is huge potential for deep management of existing customers, and a considerable number of customers' needs have not been well met; Secondly, customers have a strong demand for wealth preservation and appreciation. Faced with the huge market demand, CMB is fully capable of better consolidating its brand advantages in the field of wealth management; Thirdly, further consolidate the specialized management system of China Merchants Bank in the industry, communicate with enterprises on the same channel, truly understand the pain points of customers, and improve the ability to provide comprehensive financial services to customers on the basis of specialization; Fourthly, China Merchants Bank has some key branches in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Chengdu Chongqing region, Bohai region and other areas. There is still room for improvement in the development of these branches. If they can better serve the local economy, be close to local industries and customers, China Merchants Bank will have more growth space.

In addition, regarding the impact of new technologies, Wang Xiaoqing believes that they have brought positive promotion to CMB in three aspects: improving customer experience, enhancing internal efficiency, and managing risks more effectively and timely.

In terms of equity investment, Wang Xiaoqing stated that this year, China Merchants Bank AIC (Financial Asset Investment Company) has arranged a budget of over 10 billion yuan through debt to equity swaps, and will further focus on equity investment opportunities represented by new quality productivity in the future.

On the investment boundary, Wang Xiaoqing believes that asset allocation and risk management are the two core operations of commercial banks, and equity investment should have its place in the overall asset allocation. In addition, taking ability as the boundary and combining internal and external professional capabilities, we will share the dividends of China's technological development through long-term capital investment.

In short, capital allocation and asset allocation are the prerequisites, and professional capacity building is the starting point, "said Wang Xiaoqing.