OREANDA-NEWS.  September 07, 2012. The “Appraisal Report on the Competitiveness of Chinese Commercial Banks in 2012” (2012 Report) was released in Ningbo, Zhejiang on August 3. Industrial Bank (IB) ranked No.7 in terms of core competitiveness among all national commercial banks, and No.5 in terms of financial assessment considering the five dimensions “assets, risk, capital, profits and liquidity”. Moreover, as the first “Equator bank” in China, IB won the prize of “Best CSR Performer” with its innovation and perseverance in performing its social responsibilities and achieving its own sustainable development, reported the press-centre of IB. 

Released by the magazine, The Banker, the “Appraisal Report on the Competitiveness of Chinese Commercial Banks” has been issued for eight consecutive years since its first issuance in 2005. Mainly focusing on the basic achievements and performance of the Chinese banking industry, the report, based on the analysis and assessment over the competitiveness index system, provides objective evaluation and analysis on the competition pattern of the Chinese banking industry and analyzes the competitive advantages and disadvantages of different banks relying on advanced measuring technologies and analyzing methods. The evaluation index system has attracted extensive attention and won recognition from both the banking industry and other industries regarding its scientificity, authoritative and fairness.

As shown in the 2012 Report, up to 2011 the asset scale of the Chinese banking industry reached RMB 113.3 trillion, a new record high, up by 18.9% YoY. This figure is more than twice as great as the growth of GDP in the same period. The domestic financial institutions in the banking industry witnessed a total of after-tax profits of RMB 1.25 trillion, up by 39.3% YoY. In 2011, the profits fulfilled by the Chinese banking industry accounted for 29.3% of the total profits of the world's banking industry, but this figure was only 4% in 2007.

Nonetheless, as also indicated in the report, the trend of declining profits for the Chinese banking industry will be intensified in a short period due to the deep-rooted problems of China's economic and financial systems as well as the reform and adjustment driven by both internal and external factors. Not mentioning the deteriorated international financial environment and difficult operation of the banking industry represented by European Debt Crisis, the environment for the business development of the banking industry will be changed thoroughly due to the profound reform in the domestic financial operation system centering on market-oriented interest rates as well as various influence brought by the reform. The banking industry is “forced” to transform their operation models, especially their profit models, in an overall way. Only in this way, a bank can obtain space for its development in the pricing system with interest rates at the core.