China Construction Bank reports accelerated growth

China Construction Bank is seeing stronger profit momentum as it accelerates a business transformation aimed at capturing new growth opportunities under China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

The State-owned commercial lender's net profit rose 5.56 percent year-on-year to 171.68 billion yuan ($25.52 billion) in the first half, with growth accelerating by 1.88 percentage points from the first quarter.

At a news conference on Friday announcing the bank's 2026 interim results, CCB President Zhang Yi said the bank has implemented a forward-looking, proactive, flexible and efficient asset-liability allocation strategy. Its net interest income rose 8.46 percent year-on-year in the first half, accelerating by 0.33 percentage points from the first quarter. Its net interest margin rebounded to 1.37 percent, up 1 basis point from the first quarter and 3 basis points from the full-year level in 2025.

The bank also continued to transform its revenue structure by tapping market opportunities in areas such as direct financing and wealth management. Its net non-interest income rose 16.31 percent year-on-year to 115.38 billion yuan in the first half, Zhang said.

CCB continued to optimize its allocation of credit resources, with lending to key sectors including technology, green industries, manufacturing and infrastructure expanding steadily.

Han Jing, executive vice-president at CCB, said incremental lending was increasingly directed toward new growth areas, higher-quality sectors and consumption. Lending in the five major areas of financial support grew faster than overall loans, with technology-related lending posting double-digit growth, Han said.

The bank says it is committed to supporting the development of a modern industrial system anchored by advanced manufacturing. As of the end of June, its outstanding manufacturing loans reached 4.15 trillion yuan, up 17.95 percent from the end of last year. Lending to modern services and modern infrastructure also maintained steady growth, opening new avenues for the bank's transformation.

CCB has also implemented fiscal and financial policies aimed at boosting domestic demand, with the volume of new consumer loans and the volume of new loans eligible for fiscal interest subsidies continuing to rank among the market leaders. Meanwhile, the bank has supported high-level opening-up and launched a comprehensive cross-border services platform. In the first half, trade finance and cross-border financing accounted for more than 20 percent of the bank's incremental lending, Han said.

In addition, CCB was implementing the national strategy of high-level opening-up, supporting the development of free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port, and facilitating the wider cross-border use of the renminbi. In the first half, its cross-border RMB settlements reached 4.25 trillion yuan, Zhang said.

As of the end of June, the bank's outstanding international business loans stood at 2.03 trillion yuan, up 24.57 percent from the end of last year, while both the number of international settlement clients and the volume of international settlements recorded double-digit growth.

CCB is also supporting Chinese companies in their global expansion through a combination of financing and advisory services. Outstanding loans to countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled 73.81 billion yuan.

At the same time, the bank strengthened credit risk management and maintained overall stable asset quality through a more adaptive risk management framework, while keeping risk-coverage capacity at a sound level, said Li Jianjiang, executive vice-president and chief risk officer at CCB.

As of the end of June, the group's nonperforming loan ratio stood at 1.29 percent, down 0.02 percentage points from the end of last year, while its provision coverage ratio rose 5.54 percentage points to 238.69 percent.

Li said CCB has continuously optimized the allocation of credit resources, directing more lending to priority areas such as technological innovation, advanced manufacturing, green finance and infrastructure. By fine-tuning its lending policies and focusing on high-quality customers, the bank has also sought to improve the quality of new loans in retail segments, including inclusive finance and consumer lending.

Meanwhile, CCB has adopted targeted measures to mitigate risks in key areas, strengthening full-cycle, end-to-end and continuous monitoring of credit risks. The bank has closely tracked new developments and changes in the risk environment, dynamically optimized its long-term risk-management mechanisms, and worked to ensure that its risk-management initiatives deliver tangible results, Li said.