Twenty-one Chinese systemically important banks identified for 2025

The 2025 assessment by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) has categorized 21 domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) into five distinct groups.

These groupings are determined by their systemic importance scores, ranging from low to high.

Group 1, the largest, comprises eleven banks, including prominent institutions such as China Minsheng Bank, China Everbright Bank, and Ping An Bank.

This tier represents banks with the lowest systemic importance scores among the D-SIBs.

Moving up, Group 2 contains four banks, notably Industrial Bank and China CITIC Bank, indicating a higher level of systemic relevance.

Group 3 includes two key institutions, Bank of Communications and China Merchants Bank, signifying their elevated position within the financial system.

The highest tier with assigned banks, Group 4, features four of China's largest state-owned commercial banks: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Agricultural Bank of China.

These banks hold the highest systemic importance scores.

Notably, Group 5 currently has no banks assigned, suggesting a reserved category for institutions with even greater systemic significance should they emerge in future assessments.

The comprehensive evaluation aims to ensure robust oversight of these critical financial entities, aligning with macro-prudential management objectives.

The identification of systemically important banks forms a core part of China's strategy to build a robust macro-prudential management framework.

This framework aims to mitigate risks from large, interconnected financial institutions whose distress could destabilize the broader financial system.

The annual assessment ensures that regulatory measures adapt to the evolving systemic importance of banks.

By strengthening supervision, the PBOC and NFRA enhance financial sector resilience and stability.

This proactive approach is guided by the 'Additional Regulatory Rules for Systemically Important Banks (Trial)'.

The synergy between macro-prudential management and micro-prudential supervision is leveraged to promote sound operation and healthy development, ensuring the financial sector effectively serves the high-quality development of the real economy.