Chinese banks have continued to consolidate their increasingly dominant position within The Banker's Top 1000 World Banks. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has now made it a full decade at the top of the Top 1000 rankings. Its Tier 1 capital has continued to swell, growing by $68.9bn since last year to hit a massive $508.85bn — a 15.7% increase and the first time an individual bank in the Top 1000 has held more than $500bn in Tier 1 capital on its balance sheet. It has more than twice the Tier 1 capital of JPMorgan, the highest non-Chinese bank in the rankings in fifth position. It also holds a mammoth $5.52tn in assets on its balance sheet.
Four other Chinese banks join ICBC in the top 10, with China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China each maintaining their second, third and fourth positions, respectively, in the ranking. Bank of Communications has also moved from 11th to 10th position. This marks the first time that Chinese banks have made up half of the top 10.
China also now makes up half of the top 20 — increasing its share from nine of the 20 in 2021 — with China Citic Bank entering the top 20 for the first time. Its 18.0% increase in Tier 1 capital saw it leapfrog from 24th to 19th position.
At an aggregate level, Chinese banks are also increasingly dominant — accounting for a third of Tier 1 capital across the whole Top 1000. This is a slight increase from last year, when they accounted for 30%. Within Asia-Pacific, Chinese banks account for 65% of aggregate Tier 1 capital, up from 62% last year. Japan, the next nearest, this year accounts for just 12% — down from 15% last year.
China’s aggregate pre-tax profits increased by 15% year-on-year to reach $400bn. Its relative share of global net income has fallen from 37% last year to 27%; although, similar to last year, it continues to account for two-thirds of Asia-Pacific pre-tax profits.
Compared to last year, Asia-Pacific overall also accounts for a smaller total of global profits. In 2021 its share of total global net income was 55.1% compared to 43.0% this year.
