Our Advantages

2023 marks the opening of fully implementing the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (“CPC” or the “Party”). ICBC adhered to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, earnestly studied and implemented the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the Central Financial Work Conference. Taking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of ICBC as the impetus, we coordinated our efforts in maintaining stable growth, adjusting the structure, fostering new drivers, preventing risks, and breaking new ground. In serving China’s modernization, we have achieved to promote ICBC’s high-quality development by sticking to seeking progress while maintaining stability, enhancing stability through progress, and promoting quality amid stability.

In 2023, the Bank achieved effective improvement in development quality. The Bank’s ROA, ROE, and cost-to-income ratio were 0.87%, 10.66% and 28.28%, respectively, all at a relatively good level. The Bank achieved proper growth in quantity. Net profit rose to RMB365.1 billion, and assets, deposits and loans all increased by more than 10%, achieving a record high. The Bank achieved precise risk prevention and control. NPL ratio decreased by 2BP to 1.36%, allowance to NPLs climbed to 213.97%, and capital adequacy ratio reached 19.10%, maintaining a relatively high level.

In 2023, ICBC’s balance sheet became much cleaner and healthier, and income statement became more balanced and sustainable. Its core indicators of being “Strong, Excellent and Large” were expected to maintain the leading position among global peers or rank among the forefront, which fully demonstrated a balance in value creation, market position, risk control and capital constraint and showcased the Bank’s strong development resilience.

Integration and interaction of real economy and finance. The Bank actively utilized cross- and counter-cyclical adjustment policies, focused on primary responsibilities and core businesses, and optimized financial supply. Throughout the year, loans and bond investments increased by RMB2.88 trillion and RMB1.29 trillion, up by 12.4% and 12.9%, respectively, which strongly supported the economic recovery while ensuring ICBC’s own stable growth of assets and interest income. We established and improved the work promotion mechanism and service system regarding “Five Priorities” of technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance, and strengthened high quality financial services concerning major strategies and in key areas and weak aspects. The growth rate of loans to manufacturing, sci-tech innovation, green industries, inclusive service, rural revitalization, personal consumption, etc. was higher than the average, the number of private enterprises with outstanding loans rose rapidly, and the incremental proportion on retail and inclusive loans increased persistently. The number of overseas RMB clearing banks rose to 11, enhancing our abilities in serving high-level opening-up and jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative. Thus, we gained a deeper understanding that the real economy is the “root” or the foundation while finance is the “vein”. Therefore, a bank must adhere to the original aspiration and constantly make financial services more adaptable, competitive and inclusive to steadily go further.

An effective coordination between development and safety. Adhering to a holistic approach to national security, the Bank proactively adapted to stricter regulations trend, persisted on “active prevention, smart control and comprehensive management” and enhanced the prevention, mitigation, and management of various types of risks, so as to maintain the robust banking feature. We continued to refine the “Five-pronged Risk Management Approach”, optimized the risk officer system, added new credit approval rules and promoted internal audit mechanism reform, to strengthen the bonding force of the three lines of defense. We continuously advanced asset quality improvement, and maintained negative price scissors for 15 consecutive quarters. We also strengthened risk control in key areas, pushed forward “Three Major Projects” and supported the real estate industry to explore new development models. We improved the compliance management system, enhanced the smart risk control level, strengthened management of product risks, information technology, and cyber security. We are more convinced that security is the prerequisite for development and only through development can security be ensured. We must distinguish rights and responsibility as well as speed and stability, and stick to the risk and safety bottom lines, so as to firmly grasp the initiative of work.

Mutual promotion of foundation and growth drivers. The highlights of foundation are that we stepped up the establishment of the customer system where “large, medium, small and micro enterprises and personal customers” were well coordinated and developed, and ecologically cemented the high-quality development. The Bank, with the people’s aspiration for a better life in mind, innovated its products, built the “ICBC Aixiangban” service brand, set up 15.5 thousand “ICBC Sharing Stations”, and served Chengdu FISU World University Games and the Asian Games Hangzhou, to polish our brand image of “By Your Side and As Your Trust”. The Bank dynamically upgraded the “GBC+” projects. The number of personal customers increased by nearly 20.00 million, and ICBC was the first one to have its corporate customers exceeding 12.00 million. The increment of domestic RMB deposits reached a new height, while rate of interest payment remained stable with a slight decline. Moreover, funds, assets and capital become more balanced.

The highlights of growth driver are that the new quality productive forces of ICBC rapidly formed, and the digital growth driver was running at full throttle. Determined to deepen reforms, ICBC maintained continuous increase in technological input and accelerated the construction of D-ICBC. ICBC consolidated its basis of technology, took the lead in building a hundreds of billion-level AI model technology system, and was certified as the highest level in the Financial Digital Capability Maturity (FDCM). ICBC iteratively upgraded its Mobile Banking, Open Banking and other platforms, to enabling enterprise to serve new urban residents and county-based rural customers. The number of monthly active mobile banking customers reached 229 million, maintaining the leading position among peers. The services for financial infrastructure such as payment settlement and pension custody were improved, driving the steady growth of non-interest income. We profoundly realized that, facing the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, we must master more key core technologies, and accelerate digital transformation, in a bid to empower the present and win the future.

In the past year, we adhered to the guidance of the Party building theory and exercising rigorous corporate governance. We carried out thematic education and united the whole Bank under the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We remain committed to “Two Affirmations” and “Two Upholds” implemented them to the letter. We earnestly rectified problems discovered during central inspections, audits, and supervisions, resolutely fought corruption, and unceasingly conducted full and rigorous Party self-governance to forge a clean ICBC. We pushed forward the organic integration between the Party’s leadership and corporate governance. The newly revised Articles of Association has been approved by the regulatory authority and come into effect, and the governance system of a modern financial enterprises with Chinese characteristics continued to be improved.

The glory of the previous journey inaugurates a new journey. 1 January 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of ICBC. In the past 40 years, we unswervingly integrated our own development into the great causes of progress of the nation, national rejuvenation, and people’s well-being, and realized a historic leap from small to large, from local to global, and from a domestic bank to a modern state-owned large-scale financial institution. Looking to future from the perspective of historical coordinates, we are even more confident that the Chinese economy has great resilience and potential, and its strong fundamentals will not change in the long run. This is the biggest foundation and strongest support for the high-quality development of the financial industry. Only by firmly following the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics can ICBC take root downward, grow upward and make breakthroughs in building a world-class and modern financial institute with Chinese characteristics.

Spring is a time when we look ahead to all the possibilities. The year 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, is a pivotal year for achieving the goals and tasks in the 14th Five-Year Plan, and also the first year for ICBC to hit the road again. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, ICBC will act on the general working principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing the new before abolishing the old, and fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts. ICBC will uphold the goal of building a financial power, stick to the political and people-oriented nature of financial work, deepen the implementation of the “Four Strategies”, advance our work centering on “layout modernization, smart risk control, digital growth drivers, diversified structure, and ecological foundation”, cultivate and carry forward financial culture with Chinese characteristics, and play the key role in serving the real economy and the ballast stone role in maintaining financial stability, so as to make greater contributions to building China into a great modern socialist country and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.