China CITIC Bank recorded a net profit attributable to its shareholders of 70.62 billion yuan ($10.24 billion) in 2025, up 2.98 percent year-on-year.

The nationwide joint-stock commercial lender combined efforts to stabilize income and reduce costs to create more room for profit growth last year, Fang Heying, chairman of China CITIC Bank, said.

Looking ahead, the bank will continue to deepen its focus on wealth management, comprehensive financing, transaction settlement, foreign exchange services and digitalization. It aims to establish a development pattern in which corporate banking serves as the main pillar, retail banking provides stable contributions, financial market operations boost income, and risk control creates value, Fang said at the bank's 2025 earnings conference on Monday.

The bank's total assets surpassed 10 trillion yuan by the end of last year, up 6.28 percent from the end of 2024. Within its operating income, net non-interest income reached around 68 billion yuan, an increase of 1.55 percent, according to the bank's 2025 annual results announcement released on Friday.

Its asset quality remained stable. By the end of 2025, its nonperforming loan ratio stood at 1.15 percent, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous year-end.

The NPL ratio declined for seven consecutive years, alongside a steady reduction in credit costs. Senior executives said the bank has made solid progress in curbing new NPLs while steadily resolving existing ones. It has also stepped up risk disposal in several key projects, lowered client concentration, and moved swiftly to exit high-risk real estate exposures.

During the reporting period, China CITIC Bank stepped up targeted support for the real economy, allocating more financial resources to key areas underpinning the modern economic system.

The bank's outstanding technology-related loans totaled 1.07 trillion yuan, up 14.75 percent year-on-year. Its green loan balance exceeded 750 billion yuan, growing by 24.83 percent, while the scale of green bond underwriting increased by more than 60 percent.

Its inclusive lending to small and micro enterprises totaled about 644.31 billion yuan, up 7.42 percent, while loans to core sectors of the digital economy reached 246.78 billion yuan, an increase of 18.92 percent.

jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn