Doing difficult but right things: See the determination, resilience, and momentum in Qingdao Bank's 2025 annual report

Under the dual pressure of narrowing interest margins and slowing credit demand, the banking industry is accelerating its transition from “scale expansion” to “value creation.” With the 14th Five-Year Plan first proposing to accelerate the construction of a strong financial nation and outlining the development blueprint for the “Five Major Articles,” the navigation markers for high-quality industry development have become clear.

On March 26, Qingdao Bank disclosed its 2025 annual report, presenting a hard-core answer sheet closely aligned with national strategies and deeply rooted in the real economy: total assets reached 814.96 billion yuan, successfully breaking the 800 billion yuan threshold, and total managed assets exceeded one trillion; the annual revenue was 14.573 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.97%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 5.188 billion yuan, up 21.66%; the non-performing loan ratio fell to 0.97%, with the provision coverage ratio rising to 292.30%.

This is not a one-time sprint, but a deep and steady commitment to long-termism. As emphasized by Qingdao Bank Chairman Jing Zailun in the annual report: “We insist on doing difficult but correct things.” Behind this simple statement is a reflection of the bank’s steadfastness in strategic execution, resilience in risk management, and enduring strength in business layout.

Delivering an “Excellent Answer Sheet” Amidst Pressure

The core operational data of Qingdao Bank for 2025 shows a clear characteristic of “steady growth in scale, improved efficiency, and better quality.”

As of the end of 2025, Qingdao Bank’s total assets surpassed 800 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.12%, marking a new stage in its scale. Total customer deposits exceeded 500 billion yuan, reaching 502.899 billion yuan; total customer loans approached 400 billion yuan, reaching 397.008 billion yuan.

Even more commendably, the growth in scale did not come at the expense of efficiency, but rather fostered stronger profit elasticity: the bank achieved operating revenue of 14.573 billion yuan in 2025, up 7.97% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders reached 5.188 billion yuan, an increase of 21.66%; the weighted average return on equity (ROE) climbed to 12.68%, an increase of 1.17 percentage points from the previous year, providing shareholders with continuous and stable returns. So far, among the 13 listed banks that have disclosed their 2025 performance data, Qingdao Bank ranks in the first tier with an absolute ROE of 12.68%.

These figures are not just highlights for a single year; they also provide a perfect footnote to Qingdao Bank’s three-year strategic plan from 2023 to 2025. Looking over a longer time horizon, the bank’s net profit attributable to shareholders has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 18.94% over the past three years, with ROE climbing from 8.95% to 12.68%, and the non-performing loan ratio continuously declining to 0.97%, achieving a qualitative breakthrough from quantitative accumulation. This sustained and steady growth over the years demonstrates the scientific nature of the strategic plan and the solid determination in its implementation.

In the context of narrowing industry interest margins, how was Qingdao Bank able to deliver impressive growth in both revenue and profit? A deep analysis of its 2025 financial report reveals a clear development path: “strong net interest income provides a solid foundation, while the structure of non-interest income is optimized.”

On the asset side, Qingdao Bank did not blindly expand but insisted on growing high-quality assets, achieving a steady growth of 16.53% in total loans through deep engagement with the regional economy; on the liability side, the bank abandoned the extensive model of high-interest deposit gathering, effectively reducing liability costs, with the average cost of interest-bearing liabilities dropping significantly from 2.18% the previous year to 1.81%. This dual effort of “increasing volume and decreasing price” directly drove a year-on-year increase of 12.11% in net interest income, reaching 11.07 billion yuan, becoming the “ballast” for revenue growth.

In terms of non-interest income, the bank vigorously developed light capital businesses such as transaction banking, bond underwriting, and securities custody, enhancing the diversification and stability of its income structure, achieving non-interest income of 3.503 billion yuan for the year.

At the same time, the benefits of refined management accelerated, with total business and management expenses decreasing by 2.31% year-on-year to 4.608 billion yuan, and the cost-to-income ratio significantly optimized by 3.33 percentage points to 31.62%, reflecting the bank’s profound strength in digital transformation and refined management. This is not only an optimization of financial data but also a reshaping of management logic—no longer relying on “spreading out” for profit, but on “internal cultivation” for increased efficiency.

Building a “Moat” Amidst Cyclical Fluctuations

Long-termism does not ignore risks; rather, it demonstrates strong resilience amidst cyclical fluctuations. While scale and profit grow, Qingdao Bank’s safety baseline has not loosened but rather strengthened.

The financial report shows that as of the end of 2025, Qingdao Bank’s asset quality continued to improve, achieving a “double drop” in non-performing loans. Specifically, non-performing loan balances were 3.841 billion yuan, a reduction of 0.32 billion yuan from the end of the previous year; the non-performing loan ratio fell by 0.17 percentage points to 0.97% from the end of the previous year, marking a historic improvement in the bank’s asset quality. Among 42 listed banks in the A-share market, only 17 have a non-performing loan ratio below 1%. Across the industry, as of the end of 2025, the non-performing loan ratio of commercial banks in China was 1.50%, with Qingdao Bank’s non-performing loan ratio outperforming the industry average by 0.53 percentage points, steadily solidifying its risk resistance capability.

Not only did the total amount decline, but the internal structure also improved significantly. The proportion of substandard, doubtful, and loss loans decreased by 0.05, 0.09, and 0.03 percentage points respectively from the end of the previous year, continuously enhancing the purity of credit assets. Thanks to reduced risk consumption, Qingdao Bank’s risk buffer capacity has significantly strengthened, with the provision coverage ratio improved to 292.30%, a substantial increase of 50.98 percentage points from the end of the previous year. This means that for every 1 yuan of non-performing loans, there are nearly 3 yuan of “real cash” as a safety cushion, providing ample safety margins for future stable operations and demonstrating strong risk compensation ability.

This resilience stems from Qingdao Bank’s almost rigorous proactive risk control mechanism. The bank consistently adheres to prudent classification standards, strictly enforcing the iron rule that “all loans overdue by more than 60 days are classified as non-performing loans.” This increasingly strict classification precisely proves the quality of its assets, squeezing out the excess and ensuring the authenticity and reliability of the data.

At the same time, Qingdao Bank has significantly advanced the risk control gates by promoting “digital intelligent risk control,” reshaping the entire credit process, constructing a data-based due diligence and post-loan model; relying on visualization platforms to achieve full-chain penetration of risk data; solidifying the internal rating system to empower risk quantitative pricing and refined limit management; and achieving a transformation from “passive disposal” to “active prevention,” and from “human defense” to “intelligent defense” through digital intelligence.

Reshaping a “New Ecology” Amidst Homogeneous Competition

While the impressive report card is undoubtedly gratifying, what determines the long-term development of a bank is its ability to build differentiated barriers. The “momentum” for Qingdao Bank’s development comes from its ability to break free from homogeneous competition and reshape a “new ecology” in the three major sectors of corporate, retail, and financial markets, truly embedding financial services into the capillary networks of the real economy and the wealth growth curves of residents.

In the corporate sector, Qingdao Bank delves deeper, solidifying its current foundation. Serving the “Five Major Articles” is an era proposition assigned to the banking industry by the state and also the breakthrough point for Qingdao Bank’s differentiated competition.

Take blue and green finance as an example. Leveraging the unique endowments of Qingdao as a marine city, Qingdao Bank has created the “Green Finance Qing Silver” and “Qing Out of Blue” distinctive brands, and has been awarded the top position among city commercial banks in the “Gold Benchmark - Green Bank List” by Southern Weekend. By the end of 2025, the balance of green loans reached 58.813 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 57.47%; the balance of blue loans was 22.754 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.59%. The growth rates of these two types of distinctive loans far exceeded the average loan growth rate of the bank, demonstrating the effectiveness of strategic focus.

Faced with the high professional threshold, long chain, and large input of “hard bones” in fintech, Qingdao Bank rose to the challenge, building a “financial + non-financial” comprehensive service platform, with loan growth of 21.75%. In the field of inclusive finance, the bank established a flexible pricing mechanism, deeply engaging at the grassroots level of the real economy, with inclusive loan balances reaching 53.220 billion yuan, an 18.03% increase compared to the previous year. At the same time, it actively laid out pension finance, with the number of health and pension clients increasing to 5,823, a year-on-year growth of 18.74%.

Notably, as the first CIPS direct participating legal bank in Shandong, Qingdao Bank deeply empowers outward-oriented real enterprises, achieving breakthroughs in transaction banking: cross-border RMB settlement volumes exceeded 66.4 billion yuan, a 60.46% year-on-year increase; transaction banking fee income and exchange income totaled 360 million yuan, a 31.45% year-on-year increase.

In retail, Qingdao Bank nurtures the driving force for sustainable development. The bank understands that in the stock competition, only by responding with warm companionship throughout the entire cycle can it activate the potential needs of different customer levels. The financial report shows that through refined customer segmentation management, the bank’s customer structure continues to improve. The number of high-end customers with financial assets over 200,000 yuan increased by 10.72%, holding 86.94% of financial assets; the number of private banking clients grew by 22.05%, with managed assets increasing by 16.25%, with growth rates ranking among the top in Shandong city commercial banks.

In the financial market, Qingdao Bank remains vibrant, opening new growth avenues for the future. In 2025, Qingdao Bank fully leveraged its multi-licenses and qualifications, not only being approved to carry out government-type private equity fund custody business, with custody scale doubling to over 300 billion yuan in the year but also setting a historical high in debt financing tool underwriting, with both the number of underwritings and service clients ranking first in Shandong province. The bank successfully issued the first batch of technology innovation bonds in the country and the first pension industry bonds in Shandong province, further consolidating its leading advantage in regional investment banking business.

The achievements mentioned above are not the result of a single day’s work but rather stem from Qingdao Bank’s long-term commitment to the real economy, deepening customer service, and continuous product innovation. This persistent and meticulous cultivation has brought a steady stream of high-quality customers, forming a virtuous cycle of business ecology.

The road is long and winding, but we will arrive if we keep going; if we keep moving forward, the future is promising. In 2025, the bank achieved a collaborative leap in “scale, efficiency, and quality,” marking a successful conclusion to its three-year strategic plan. In the deep waters of industry transformation, the bank has proven through its performance that only by adhering to long-termism and deeply cultivating differentiated features can it build a solid foundation amidst cyclical fluctuations and break through homogeneous competition. Standing at the new starting point of 800 billion yuan in assets, Qingdao Bank has officially commenced its new three-year strategic plan for 2026-2028, heading towards the vast blue ocean of high-quality development.

(Edited by: Jiao Yue)

	 【Disclaimer】【Advertisement】This article represents the author's personal views and is unrelated to Hexun.com. Hexun.com maintains neutrality regarding the statements and views expressed in this article and does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the content. Readers should refer to the information and assume all responsibilities independently. Email: news_center@staff.hexun.com

Report