Steady improvement with quality enhancement, distinctive breakthrough: Zhengzhou Bank demonstrates a new model of high-quality regional bank development

Author | Pang Hu

In 2025, for China’s banking industry, it will be a year of continued narrowing of net interest margins, pressure on asset quality, and intensified pains of transformation. Against this backdrop, Zhengzhou Bank delivered a steady yet progressive operating performance with improvements in both quality and efficiency. What is noteworthy is not the rapid surge of any single indicator, but the systemic improvement it demonstrated—synchronously advancing in four dimensions: scale, profitability, risk management, and specialized businesses—forming a virtuous cycle among them.

The report shows that the bank’s total assets steadily increased throughout the year, with performance growing positively for two consecutive years. Non-performing loan ratios declined for three straight years, and its specialized financial businesses achieved multiple breakthroughs. In the process of deepening local roots and serving the real economy, Zhengzhou Bank has demonstrated strong operational resilience and differentiated competitive advantages. This marks its departure from the past development model focused solely on scale expansion, entering a new stage of “quality and efficiency progressing together.”

1

Dual improvement in operations: a steady foundation through cycles

Through the 2025 annual report, the author observes that Zhengzhou Bank has emerged from its previous “low point.” Revenue and profit are no longer driven by single growth, but show long-term, steady, and sustainable quality.

In terms of scale, as of the end of 2025, Zhengzhou Bank’s total assets reached 743.67B yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.95%, hitting a new high since 2018. More importantly, after surpassing 700 billion yuan in the first quarter, the asset size maintained steady growth for three consecutive quarters, with an annual increase of 67.3 billion yuan. This gradual, quarter-by-quarter growth reflects the recovery of the bank’s endogenous growth momentum, rather than relying on short-term measures like quarter-end rushes.

Profitability improvements are even more noteworthy. In 2025, Zhengzhou Bank achieved operating income of 12.92B yuan, up 0.34% year-on-year; net profit was 1.91B yuan, up 2.44%. The growth rate of net profit significantly outpaced that of operating income, and has been positive year-over-year for two consecutive years. This long-term positive trend in performance reveals an enhancement in the bank’s operational quality and efficiency.

Looking at the profit structure, net interest income—Zhengzhou Bank’s core profit driver—reached 10.86B yuan for the year, up 4.82%, accounting for 84.08% of operating income. This effectively offset the operational pressure caused by narrowing industry interest margins and became the “ballast” for profit growth. Meanwhile, investment income remained steady, totaling 1.92B yuan for the year, further broadening diversified profit channels and increasing profit resilience.

Asset quality is a key indicator of a bank’s true strength. The annual report shows that as of the end of 2025, Zhengzhou Bank’s non-performing loan ratio declined to 1.71%, down 0.08 percentage points from the previous year-end, and down 0.17 percentage points from the end of 2022, achieving three consecutive years of decline. The provision coverage ratio increased to 185.81%, further strengthening risk buffer capacity.

The structure of deposits and loans also confirms the improvement in operational quality. As of the end of 2025, total deposits absorbed reached 4.6375 trillion yuan, a 14.47% increase year-on-year, maintaining double-digit growth. Among them, personal deposits stood at 2.71847 trillion yuan, a surge of 24.60%. The rapid growth of personal deposits indicates increased public trust in the bank and also optimizes the liability structure, reducing funding costs. On the loan side, total loans and advances issued reached 4.10264 trillion yuan, up 5.82% year-on-year, with credit deployment remaining steady and orderly.

Zhengzhou Bank’s management stated at the earnings release that the steady growth in performance throughout the year stems from the bank’s unwavering commitment to its core positioning of “serving the local economy, small and medium-sized enterprises, and urban and rural residents.” The bank adheres to the development strategy of “balancing quality and efficiency, breaking through transformation,” strictly controlling risks and optimizing structure amid scale expansion, ultimately achieving quality and sustainable growth.

2

Breakthrough in specialized finance: from scale growth to value creation

If steady operating data is Zhengzhou Bank’s “foundation,” then breakthroughs in its specialized financial businesses are the most promising part of its 2025 annual report. These businesses not only contributed tangible performance increments but also outlined a clear path for differentiated competition.

Personal consumer loans exceeded 20 billion yuan, marking a significant milestone. As of the end of 2025, Zhengzhou Bank’s personal consumer loan balance reached 463.08B yuan, a 20.9% increase year-on-year. In an environment where retail credit demand is generally weak, this rapid growth is impressive, driven by the bank’s product strength and service efficiency improvements. For example, “Zheng e-loan consumption” offers tailored repayment plans for customers with different income cycles and consumption needs, and has launched paperless online signing with fully automated approval processes. This “warm efficiency” is key to winning customer recognition.

The inclusive micro and small business loans also delivered solid results. By the end of 2025, the bank’s inclusive micro and small business loan balance was 271.85B yuan, up 6.78% from the start of the year; the number of customers with loans increased to 78,680, a net increase of 8,684. Behind the scale expansion is innovative models. The “Zheng Hui Loan” product employs a “digital risk control + in-depth due diligence” dual risk management mode, with a “three-stage tiered credit” feature to address the financing pain points of individual industrial and commercial households and small micro enterprises—small, high-frequency, urgent needs—with a total credit amount of 1.746 billion yuan. Additionally, through deep cooperation with the “Zhenghao Rong” platform, the bank has processed 1,327 financing applications totaling 20.73B yuan, and established 23 offline financial service hubs, truly connecting the “last mile” of inclusive and convenient services.

The upgrade of wealth management reflects Zhengzhou Bank’s determination to shift from “deposit and loan intermediary” to “wealth steward.” As of the end of 2025, retail wealth management assets reached 57.33B yuan, up 11.57%; agency-based wealth intermediation income surged 86.11% to 56.8456 million yuan. The faster growth of intermediary income compared to asset scale indicates a significant improvement in profitability and customer stickiness. On the product side, 675 new distribution products were introduced, building a comprehensive product spectrum from cash management to equity investments; on the service side, digital tools are used to accurately identify customer needs and improve full lifecycle services. This “product + service” dual approach is transforming wealth management into a new growth engine.

Optimizations in bond investment and investment banking also demonstrate Zhengzhou Bank’s proactive asset management capabilities. Total bond investments reached 1.75B yuan, up 27.00%, with a steady increase in standardized assets; non-standard investments such as trust plans and securities asset management declined by 9.84%, indicating more prudent asset allocation. In investment banking, the bank completed four M&A loan deals—including the province’s first private enterprise bankruptcy restructuring M&A project—and successfully organized a sustainable development-linked working capital syndicate loan, marking a significant breakthrough in green finance. These moves show Zhengzhou Bank’s shift from merely a lender to a comprehensive financial service provider.

3

Deepening regional roots: resonating with the Central Plains economy

As a local bank rooted in Henan, Zhengzhou Bank’s greatest advantage lies in its deep understanding of and close service to the regional economy. The 2025 annual report clearly indicates that this advantage is transforming into tangible differentiated competitiveness.

The “Five Major Articles” are not just slogans but strategic actions supported by data. In the field of technological finance, the bank established seven tech-focused branches, with a tech loan balance of 1.48B yuan, up 25.57% from the start of the year. The positioning of “early, small, long-term, hard tech” is taking shape. In green finance, the bank set up its first two green specialty branches, with dedicated credit quotas to guide resources toward green sectors. In digital finance, digital economy loans reached 57.25B yuan, up 27.78%. The rapid growth in these areas exceeds the overall loan growth, indicating that financial resources are being precisely directed toward policy-supported and regionally urgent industries.

Seizing opportunities from the “dual” and “new” policies, Zhengzhou Bank has made substantial breakthroughs in serving state-owned enterprise mergers and acquisitions and major projects. During the reporting period, the bank arranged 21 syndicate loans, supporting a total of 181.64B yuan in syndicated financing. In bond underwriting, it successfully issued 28 non-financial corporate debt instruments totaling 33.24B yuan, maintaining a top position in the provincial market. The bank also facilitated 45 matching deals involving 11.14 billion yuan. Behind these figures is a systematic enhancement of the bank’s investment banking service capabilities—no longer just a fund provider, but a resource integrator and transaction organizer.

The layout of pension and consumer finance also reflects Zhengzhou Bank’s keen grasp of民生需求. It actively supports the construction of elderly care facilities, healthcare services for seniors, and related industries, while increasing standardized aging-friendly services to meet the unique financial needs of the elderly. Personal consumer loans exceeding 20 billion yuan are not only a positive response to the national policy of expanding domestic demand but also a precise match to residents’ rational consumption needs. The bank enforces strict risk control throughout the process, clearly disclosing comprehensive financing costs and loan purposes, ensuring sustainable development within regulatory compliance.

Looking back at Zhengzhou Bank’s overall performance in 2025, a clear logical thread emerges: building a solid foundation through steady operation, opening space through specialized businesses, and constructing barriers through regional deepening. In an industry often plagued by “growth anxiety,” this path of “steady progress, winning with quality” may well be the best reference for regional banks to navigate cycles and achieve sustainable development.

For Zhengzhou Bank, standing at a new starting point—how to continue expanding scale while maintaining quality, how to further establish brand effects through specialized businesses, and how to better integrate into Henan’s “Six Strong Provinces” development strategy—will be ongoing questions for the future.

(This article’s data and information are all from publicly available sources such as listed company annual reports, announcements, and official media reports. If there are any omissions, corrections are welcome. Unauthorized reproduction, plagiarism, or ghostwriting of this article is prohibited.)

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