As the banking industry broadly contends with narrowing net interest margins, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd. has delivered a half-year report centered on structural adjustments to its assets and liabilities.
Data reveals that in the first half of 2026, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd. achieved an operating income of RMB 75.166 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.84%; within this, net interest income reached RMB 52.584 billion, up 6.87% year-on-year. The net interest margin, a key indicator of core profitability, improved by 8 basis points year-on-year to 1.47%.
The primary driver of this shift in net interest margin came from reductions on the liability side of the balance sheet. During the first half, the average cost rate of interest-bearing liabilities fell 39 basis points year-on-year to 1.54%; notably, the average cost rate of customer deposits declined 40 basis points to 1.46%. By curbing higher-cost liability volumes and fostering closed-loop settlement of funds, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd. translated these cost-saving measures into tangible results on its interest expense line.
On the asset side, however, the average yield on interest-earning assets contracted 30 basis points to 2.93%, influenced by market conditions and proactive adjustments. During the reporting period, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd. saw total loans and advances reach RMB 4.51 trillion, an increase of RMB 79.387 billion compared to the end of the prior year. Credit allocation continued to favor technology finance, green finance, and inclusive finance; by the end of June, green loan balances had grown 10.12% from the start of the year.
While the revenue side performed steadily, the profit side faced downward pressure from loan loss provisioning. In the first half, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd. recorded net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 19.537 billion, down 8.62% year-on-year. Although growth in net interest income provided some offset, credit impairment losses rose by approximately RMB 5.4 billion year-on-year, a 20.81% increase to RMB 31.457 billion. This remained the primary cause of the profit decline, reflecting management's inclination to accelerate risk resolution and clear out legacy non-performing assets in the current environment.
Asset quality continued its steady, orderly unwinding. As of the end of June, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd.'s non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.47%, down 0.02 percentage points from the end of 2025, while its provision coverage ratio climbed to 142.19%. Nevertheless, total non-performing loans inched up by RMB 169 million to RMB 66.323 billion over the same period; the lower NPL ratio was largely attributable to the expansion of the overall loan book. Excluding the effect of loan growth, legacy risk is still being exposed gradually.
From a structural perspective, corporate non-performing loans were concentrated mainly in real estate, wholesale and retail, and manufacturing. Within specific sectors, corporate real estate risk continued to be released, with its non-performing loan ratio declining 0.26 percentage points from the start of the year to 3.35%. However, due to the pace of consumption recovery and operational fluctuations among small and micro business owners, some corporate sub-sectors still face considerable non-performing pressure.
Overall, China Minsheng Banking Corp.,Ltd. preserved its net interest margin headroom during the first half by driving down liability costs, while simultaneously ramping up provisioning and non-performing loan resolutions using revenue growth. With profits under interim pressure and asset quality stabilizing at the margin, the bank has carved out a buffer zone for future risk resilience and business transformation.