End of four consecutive years of decline! Has the performance turnaround at SPD Bank arrived?

How will the new management drive a rebound in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank’s performance?

Produced by | Zhongfang Network

Reviewed by | Li Xiaoyan

As the first nationwide joint-stock commercial bank to be standardized and listed after the Securities Law was promulgated in 1999, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has experienced several years of performance pressure and structural adjustment pains. Since the new management team took office in 2024, the bank has driven a comprehensive rebound in operations through strategic restructuring, structural optimization, risk clearance, and digital empowerment. The 2025 performance report shows that the bank’s total assets have exceeded 10 trillion yuan, revenue has ended four consecutive years of decline, net profit has achieved double-digit growth, and asset quality has reached the best level in nearly a decade, officially entering a new phase of synergistic improvement in scale and efficiency. Although there are still shortcomings in compliance management and regulatory penalties and customer complaints present short-term pressures, this established joint-stock bank is steadily advancing on the path of high-quality development with firm determination for rectification and a clear development pathway.

From 2021 to 2023, affected by multiple factors such as narrowing interest margins and exposure to real estate risks, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank’s revenue declined continuously, and net profit faced periodic pressure, leading the market to view it as a “follower” among joint-stock banks. In response to operational challenges, the new management team led by Zhang Weizhong and Xie Wei quickly launched a package of reform measures including digital transformation, adjustments in credit structure, clearance of non-performing assets, and meticulous cost management, achieving significant performance recovery in the same year. In 2024, the bank achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 45.257 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.31%; excluding one-time factors from equity sales, operating revenue saw a year-on-year increase of 0.92%, reversing the trend of continuous decline.

In 2025, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank further released growth momentum, delivering a valuable annual report. The annual operating revenue reached 173.964 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.88%, officially ending four years of revenue shrinkage; net profit attributable to shareholders reached 50.017 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.52%, with profitability returning to a stable growth track. Notably, by the end of 2025, the group’s total assets reached 100.81746 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.55%, successfully entering the “trillion yuan club” of domestic banking, with scale strength reaching a new level.

Improvements in capital strength and asset quality lay a solid foundation for long-term development. In October 2025, the bank’s 50 billion yuan convertible bonds completed conversion, and the core tier-one capital adequacy ratio is expected to increase by 0.5 percentage points to 9.4%, effectively alleviating capital constraints and further expanding business growth space. In terms of risk management, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has made “controlling new and reducing old” its core mission, increasing the disposal of existing non-performing assets, and accurately directing credit resources to national strategic areas such as manufacturing upgrades, green energy, and technology innovation enterprises. By the end of 2025, the bank’s non-performing loan balance was 71.990 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.164 billion yuan; the non-performing loan ratio was 1.26%, down 0.10 percentage points from the end of the previous year, with overdue loans beyond 90 days and 60 days both controlled within 100%, demonstrating prudent risk recognition and continuous optimization of asset quality, achieving the best level in nearly a decade.

Based on the new development stage, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is closely aligned with the “five major articles” of finance, focusing on five major tracks: fintech, supply chain finance, inclusive finance, cross-border finance, and treasury finance, promoting the transformation of business from scale expansion to high-quality development, with differentiated competitive advantages continuing to emerge.

Fintech has become a core growth driver. The bank adheres to a digital intelligence strategy, building a “full cycle, multi-channel, intelligent, customizable” fintech product system, creating the “PuKe 5+7+X” service matrix to provide financial support for technology enterprises covering the entire lifecycle from startup, growth, to maturity. By the end of June 2025, the bank had served over 240,000 technology enterprises, covering over 70% of listed companies on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board and over 80% of listed companies in strategic emerging industries, with the balance of fintech loans steadily exceeding 1 trillion yuan, becoming the benchmark for fintech services among joint-stock banks.

Green finance leads the industry. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank innovatively launched the “Pudong Green Innovation” brand, establishing a specialized green finance supermarket, implementing the country’s first data center green computing index sustainable development-linked loan and the first transformation finance loan in Shanghai, forming a product system for the collaborative development of green credit, carbon finance, and transformation finance. In the first half of 2025, the balance of green loans reached 671.984 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.75%, ranking among the top in joint-stock banks, helping to achieve the “dual carbon” goals.

Inclusive finance precisely nurtures the real economy. The bank continues to carry out the “Thousand Enterprises, Ten Thousand Households Smart Benefit Action,” completing the listing of all branch micro and personal loan centers, and enhancing service efficiency for small and micro enterprises through digital tools. By the first half of 2025, under the small and micro enterprise financing coordination mechanism, 44,000 customers were connected, with loans issued to 32,000 customers, totaling over 270 billion yuan, continuously improving the accessibility and coverage of inclusive finance, effectively alleviating the financing difficulties faced by small and micro enterprises.

Supply chain finance, cross-border finance, and treasury finance are simultaneously making efforts, leveraging the group’s comprehensive operational advantages to provide one-stop integrated financial services for upstream and downstream businesses in the industrial chain, cross-border trade enterprises, and high-net-worth clients, with the loan increment from the five major tracks continuing to lead in new loans, optimizing the business structure and enhancing development resilience.

As performance rebounds and strategies upgrade, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank also clearly recognizes the shortcomings in compliance management and internal control construction. Since 2025, the bank and several branches have received regulatory fines for violations in areas such as credit management, account clearing, bank card acquiring, and anti-counterfeiting, with a substantial fine anticipated at the beginning of 2026, revealing vulnerabilities in grassroots risk control execution and compliance management throughout the business process. Moreover, the volume of complaints in credit card business remains high, with issues regarding hidden charges, interest and fee disclosure, and debt collection management needing continuous improvement.

Compliance is the lifeline of the financial industry and the baseline for high-quality development. In response to regulatory warnings and market concerns, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is shifting from passive compliance rectification to proactive governance, comprehensively sorting out internal control processes based on issues, strengthening the execution of the “three checks” system for pre-loan investigations, in-loan reviews, and post-loan inspections, and emphasizing compliance responsibilities at branch institutions. At the same time, relying on digital intelligence means to upgrade the risk control system, enhancing the accuracy and timeliness of risk identification, warning, and disposal, preventing compliance risks from the source. In response to complaints regarding credit card business, the bank is optimizing the interest and fee disclosure mechanism, standardizing marketing and debt collection behaviors, effectively protecting the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers, and promoting continuous improvement in service quality.

From a performance low point to a new starting point of 10 trillion, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has completed a reversal of operations and strategic restructuring within two years, demonstrating the profound heritage and strong resilience of an established joint-stock bank. Currently, the banking sector is bidding farewell to a model of extensive expansion, entering a new stage of high-quality development prioritizing compliance and quality. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is accelerating its transition to a high-quality value bank, leveraging the opportunity of breaking through asset scale, supporting it with five major tracks, and ensuring compliance rectification.

In the future, as digital transformation deepens, capital strength continues to solidify, asset quality steadily improves, and the compliance system is comprehensively upgraded, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is expected to further unleash growth potential, showcasing greater responsibility in serving the real economy, implementing national strategies, and safeguarding financial security. The brief compliance pains will ultimately transform into a solid foundation for long-term governance, assisting this century-old financial institution in maintaining stability and progress on a new journey.