"Employees rarely leave work on time," remarks by China Merchants Bank Chairman spark heated discussion

“Employees rarely clock out on time,” a remark by the Chairman of China Merchants Bank about corporate culture has sparked heated discussion.

According to The Paper

On March 30, China Merchants Bank Chairman Miao Jianmin said at the bank’s 2025 annual results briefing that many people believe retail banking and financial technology are China Merchants Bank’s moats, but that the real moat is internalizing the concept of “customer-centricity” into corporate culture, and translating it into employees’ everyday behavior. This is a major difference between CMB and many other banks in mainland China.

He gave an example: after 5 p.m., when you go to a CMB branch, you will find it’s very different from other banks—CMB employees rarely clock out on time; after the bank released its 2025 annual results, the colleagues in the office of the Board of Directors completed thick materials for analysts’ and investors’ communications in just two days.

“This is corporate culture. I think this is the biggest moat. Because whether it’s the concept, the operations, or the technology, everything is driven by people to run the business.” Miao Jianmin said: “If we didn’t have this kind of culture—this kind of cohesion—this kind of professional and dedicated spirit—then the other moats would gradually collapse. The most important factor supporting the moat is that China Merchants Bank has built a set of core competitiveness with the customer at the center.”

“So as long as our culture doesn’t change, our moat is there. If one day China Merchants Bank’s customer-centric culture changes, then our other moats will gradually be weakened. In the past, during the banking industry’s downturn cycle, we also experienced downside performance, but we have always been able to outperform the broader market and do better than our peers—that is because of this culture.” Miao Jianmin said.

China Merchants Bank’s 2025 annual report shows that the bank’s 2025 employee expenses were RMB 68.69B, up 0.88% year over year. As of the end of 2025, China Merchants Bank Group had 121,585 employees (including dispatched personnel).

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Source | The Paper

Editor | Zhao Tong Proofreader | Xiao Ping

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