All the teams are assembled, Chengdu Bank is ready to make a big move.

Source: Yuan Media Exchange

Author | Tong Hua

Chengdu Bank is entering a critical period of transformation.

On March 11, the Sichuan Financial Regulatory Bureau officially approved Huang Jianjun’s qualification to serve as Chairman of Chengdu Bank. One week later, on March 20, the Chengdu Bank Board of Directors quickly announced the appointment of Zhou Zhichen and Qi JiaoJiao as new Vice Presidents.

For Huang Jianjun, this appointment marks a return to his former employer, as he previously worked at Chengdu Bank six years ago. The two new vice presidents, Zhou Zhichen is a former subordinate of Huang Jianjun at Chengdu Rural Commercial Bank, while Qi JiaoJiao comes from the Financial Work Committee of Chengdu Municipal Party Committee.

This lightning-fast personnel adjustment at Chengdu Bank has sparked market discussion. Especially for Zhou Zhichen, born in 1988 and under 40 years old, who previously had no experience as a vice president, his promotion to vice president of a listed urban commercial bank alongside the veteran Huang Jianjun is considered a rapid rise. The arrival of professional financial officer Qi JiaoJiao also demonstrates the local government’s determination to address Chengdu Bank’s stubborn risk control issues.

Currently, Chengdu Bank faces challenges such as compliance disorder and declining performance growth. Can the new management team help this trillion-yuan city commercial bank reverse the downturn and return to growth?

Two new vice presidents spark heated discussion

On March 11, Huang Jianjun received approval to serve as Chairman of Chengdu Bank, and by March 20, the bank announced the appointment of Zhou Zhichen and Qi JiaoJiao as vice presidents—only nine days apart. Such efficiency raises suspicion that the candidates may have been pre-selected, awaiting official announcement.

Let’s look at the backgrounds of these two new vice presidents.

Zhou Zhichen was born in March 1988. After graduating from university, he worked at Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Chengdu Rural Commercial Bank, but his resume shows only experience as a department head, with no prior experience as a vice president, especially not at a listed city commercial bank with assets exceeding one trillion yuan.

Image source: Chengdu Bank announcement

In his career, Zhou Zhichen moved from Pudong Development Bank’s Chengdu branch to Chengdu Rural Commercial Bank, where he served as general manager of the Investment Banking Department and the Corporate Finance Department. Huang Jianjun was his former superior at Chengdu Rural Commercial Bank. Records show that in June 2020, Huang Jianjun transferred from Chengdu Bank to become President of Chengdu Rural Commercial Bank, later serving as its Chairman until returning to Chengdu Bank in August 2025.

In the context of the industry’s trend toward younger leadership, Zhou Zhichen’s rapid promotion to vice president of a listed city commercial bank before age 40 has sparked industry debate: is this “meritocracy without nepotism” or “favoritism disguised as talent”?

The other new vice president, Qi JiaoJiao, was born in August 1979. She has a genuine background in local financial regulation—working from Chengdu Financial Work Office to Chengdu Financial Supervision Bureau, and then to the Risk Prevention and Control Department of the Financial Work Committee of Chengdu Municipal Party Committee, accumulating over ten years of risk supervision experience. She is considered an industry insider who “understands regulation and risk control.”

Image source: Chengdu Bank announcement

However, despite her extensive regulatory experience, Qi JiaoJiao has no banking industry experience.

The appointment qualifications of Qi JiaoJiao and Zhou Zhichen are still subject to approval by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Once approved, Chengdu Bank will form a board of 12 directors and a management team consisting of “one president and six vice presidents,” with Huang Jianjun as the “veteran” Chairman and Xu Dengyi, from China Construction Bank, as President.

The addition of these two young vice presidents, especially Zhou Zhichen as the first “post-80s” vice president, has significantly lowered the average age of Chengdu Bank’s management team, sparking market discussion about its “management youthfulness” strategy.

For banks, optimizing the age structure of leadership can improve decision-making efficiency and innovation capacity, but it may also bring operational risks and compliance pressures. As banking is a risk-intensive industry, risk control experience requires long-term accumulation. Zhou Zhichen lacks senior management experience, and Qi JiaoJiao’s cross-sector background raises questions about their ability to adapt and perform in their new roles—these will need time to verify.

In any case, Chengdu Bank has taken a brave first step.

Internal control vulnerabilities remain unaddressed

This personnel overhaul at Chengdu Bank is closely related to its previous difficulties, especially the frequent internal control breaches.

On December 5, 2025, Chengdu Bank was fined heavily by the Sichuan Financial Regulatory Bureau for “improper management of loans, deposits, discounting, and bill business.” The head office was fined 900k yuan, and 15 branches including Mianyang, Meishan, and Tianfu New District branches were fined a total of 6.35 million yuan, with total fines reaching 7.25 million yuan; additionally, 13 responsible individuals including Sun Mou, Ai Mouwei, Yuan Mou, and Yan Moujun were warned and fined a total of 730k yuan.

The 7.25 million yuan fine set a new record for Chengdu Bank’s penalties in recent years.

Image source: National Financial Regulatory Administration official website

From the violations cited, core businesses such as loans, deposits, discounting, and bills were all involved, indicating that risk control at key points—from deposit collection and risk assessment in lending to process supervision of bill acceptance and discounting—was fundamentally weak.

More concerning is that violations appeared across 15 branches, suggesting that risk issues are not isolated but a systemic failure of Chengdu Bank’s risk management system.

In fact, some internal control issues that Chengdu Bank had previously exposed have yet to be resolved.

For example, the last major penalty in December 2022 involved “illegal land reserve loans, illegal loan swaps with other banks, inaccurate risk classification, and granting credit to ineligible projects,” resulting in a fine of 6.5 million yuan.

Image source: National Financial Regulatory Administration official website

The persistent internal control problems at Chengdu Bank demand urgent rectification. The recent addition of Qi JiaoJiao, with her extensive risk regulation background, is seen as a signal of the bank’s intention to strengthen risk management. Whether she can help establish a more robust internal control system and plug management loopholes is highly anticipated by the market.

How the new management team will rebuild the three-tier risk control system from head office to branches is now a top priority.

Will responsible personnel who were fined face other accountability measures? How will the bank enhance penetrating supervision of branches to prevent violations? Can the management team’s professional backgrounds help address the previous failures in branch risk control? These questions await answers from Chengdu Bank’s new leadership. As of press time, Yuan Media Exchange has not received a response.

Performance growth has declined for nearly four years

Behind Chengdu Bank’s frequent risk control breaches lies its fluctuating performance.

As Sichuan’s first listed bank and the eighth city commercial bank listed on A-shares nationwide, Chengdu Bank has maintained growth in operating income and net profit attributable to shareholders since its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s main board on January 31, 2018. However, its growth rate has been volatile, with a clear downward trend in recent years.

Wind data shows that from 2021 to 2024, Chengdu Bank’s revenue growth rates were 22.54%, 13.14%, 7.22%, and 5.89%, respectively, while net profit attributable to shareholders grew by 29.98%, 28.24%, 16.22%, and 10.17%, respectively—both declining year by year.

Image source: Wind

In the third quarter of 2025, Chengdu Bank reported revenue of 900k yuan, up 3.01% year-on-year; net profit of 730k yuan, up 5.03%. In that quarter, quarterly revenue was 17.76B yuan, down 2.92% year-on-year and 14.90% quarter-on-quarter; net profit was 9.49B yuan, up 0.17% year-on-year but down 20.22% quarter-on-quarter.

Guohai Securities believes that Chengdu Bank’s performance slowdown is mainly due to a decline in fair value gains from fee and commission income.

As of the end of September 2025, Chengdu Bank’s core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio was only 8.77%. Capital replenishment pressure has become a key bottleneck restricting its development—capital is being consumed quickly, but replenishment is slow. If this continues, credit issuance and business expansion will be limited, effectively “moneyless and unable to do anything.”

United Credit Rating’s “Chengdu Bank 2025 Follow-up Rating Report” pointed out that, with the rapid growth of Chengdu Bank’s business, its Tier 1 capital still faces certain replenishment pressure.

In addition to its own poor performance, issues with its subsidiary Sichuan Jincheng Consumer Finance Co., Ltd. (“Jincheng Consumer Finance”) are also troubling the new management.

As of March 30, 2026, the Black Cat Complaint platform recorded 2,689 complaints containing the search term “Jincheng Consumer Finance,” highlighting problems such as aggressive collection and hidden fees.

Image source: Black Cat Complaint platform

Some consumers reported that in 2025, they borrowed from Hello (Hao Luo), with the loan provided by Jincheng Consumer Finance. Due to financial difficulties, the loan became overdue, and Jincheng Consumer Finance continued to harass third-party contacts and even threatened and intimidated the borrower, causing serious distress.

Other consumers complained that on May 14, 2025, they borrowed 19,700 yuan through a platform, with the loan issued by Jincheng Consumer Finance, at an annual interest rate of 36%, far exceeding the legal limit of four times the LPR (Loan Prime Rate) at the time of signing the contract.

Chengdu Bank is standing at a crossroads of development. The new management team’s arrival brings hope and possibilities. With a background combining “regulation + peer industry,” there is potential to balance risk control and business innovation.

As an important city commercial bank in western China, Chengdu Bank’s development not only affects its own market position but also has significant implications for regional financial stability and economic growth. Whether the new leadership can lead Chengdu Bank out of its difficulties and achieve high-quality development remains a key focus for the market.

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