The Banker's ranking of China’s Top 100 banks shows the country's continued prosperity, with increases in Tier 1 capital almost across the board. 

China’s banks are notable for their dominance in the global rankings, with ICBC topping the Top 1000 World Banks ranking published in The Banker’s July issue, the first bank from the country to do so. And the outstanding results extend to the lesser-known Chinese banks. 

Now, looking at China’s top 100 banks in detail, all banks – with the exception of Bank of Jiujiang – have seen an increase in their Tier 1 capital, although the increases are more moderate than the dramatic rises that have been recorded in previous years. 

The aggregate Tier 1 capital of the 100 largest Chinese banks is up 19.31%, and many of the banks do not stray far from this mark. The ‘big four’ – ICBC, China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) – still dominate the rankings, although their Tier 1 capital increases sit lower than the aggregate Tier 1 capital, at about 15%. 

Unchanged at the top

The order of China’s largest banks remains the same as 12 months ago. (Last year’s rankings were not published in The Banker magazine, but are available from thebankerdatabase.com.) ICBC is in the lead, with a Tier 1 capital of $160.7bn, followed by CCB with $137.6bn and Bank of China with $121.5bn. ABC is in fourth place with a Tier 1 capital of $111.5bn – almost double that of the next largest bank, Bank of Communications (BoComm), with a figure of $57.6bn. 

BoComm’s change in its Tier 1 capital, however, is larger than the big four banks with a figure of 39.44%. This pales in comparison with the percentage changes in the top 10 largest Tier 1 capital increases. Baoshang Bank tops this table with capital change of 155.44% to $2.81bn. This means the bank jumps from a position of 50th in the top 100 China rankings last year to 28th this year. The other notable increase is from Xiamen International Bank, which has a Tier 1 capital increase of 132.77% to $1.44bn. Xiamen also comes second in the top 10 for largest asset increases, with its assets rising 96.89% to $32.8bn.

The Tier 1 capital changes of Baoshang Bank and Xiamen stand out against the more moderate increases of China’s largest 100 banks. And the rise in Tier 1 capital has not been as dramatic as in previous years. In the 2012 Top 1000 World Banks, for example, the highest mover was a Chinese bank with a 626.24% increase in Tier 1 capital.

Baoshang Bank also features in other top 10 tables, ranking sixth for the largest profits increase and fourth for the largest assets increase. In terms of assets, Baoshang saw an increase of 81.1% to $33bn. The change in Baoshang Bank’s pre-tax profits was not so high, up 62.38% to $452.3m. 

The big four banks, as well as topping the league for Tier 1 capital, also dominate the results for pre-tax profits. In the top 10 highest pre-tax profits ranking, the order is similar, except that ABC – China’s fourth largest by Tier 1 capital – is ranked third by pre-tax profits, and Bank of China – China’s third largest bank by Tier 1 capital – comes fourth. ICBC's pre-tax profits of $49.1bn lead the table and remain much larger than for CCB, which follows in second place with $40bn.

Dramatic spikes 

The five largest banks in China – ICBC, CCB, Bank of China, ABC and BoComm – have charted a bumpy course in terms of their return on capital (RoC). The chart shows a general decline in RoC since 1992, but this was generally reversed from 2003. ICBC took a year longer to rally in 2004.

Other banks in this chart have also witnessed spikes in their RoC, with CCB’s rising dramatically in 2004. ABC had the most dramatic movements in its ROC, with lows of -0.68% in 1998 and -0.26% in 1999 and spiking to a high of 36.73% in 2007. It experienced a drop a year later, and its RoC is now more in line with China’s other big banks. 

China’s largest banks, however, do not feature in the top 10 list of banks that have the highest RoC. The lesser-known Bank of Jiujiang, with an RoC of 36.61%, tops this table. The bank is ranked 66th in China, down from 55th a year ago, and is the only bank in the top 100 ranking to have a decrease in its Tier 1 capital of -4.24% to $952m. The bank that comes second in terms of RoC is Bank of Xi’An, which is ranked 70th in China, with a Tier 1 capital of $841m. 

Foreign-owned subsidiaries in China do not feature in the Top 100 rankings, but a separate ranking shows the top five – HSBC Corp China, Standard Chartered Bank China, The Bank of East Asia (China), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp China and Mizuho Corporate Bank – all hold the same positions as they did a year ago. The difference in the amount of Tier 1 capital between the first and second place is significant, with HSBC’s Tier 1 capital of $3.94bn far ahead of Standard Chartered’s $2.49bn. One bank that has managed to jump a couple of positions is DBS Bank China, which moved up from eighth to sixth in this year's rankings. Deutsche Bank China held the same position of seventh place, while Hang Seng Bank China moved up from ninth to eighth. Meanwhile Royal Bank of Scotland China fell from sixth to ninth with a Tier 1 capital change of -16.92% to $753m.

Top 15 foreign-owned subsidiaries in China

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