Adhering to the Original Aspiration to Serve the Real Economy

Focusing on the People’s Livelihood and Fulfilling Social Responsibilities

China Construction Bank reports operating results for 2019

 

Financial highlights for 2019 (in RMB)

• Total assets of RMB25.44 trillion, up 9.53% from the previous year.
• Net profit of RMB269.22 billion, up 5.32%; net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB266.73 billion, up 4.74%; net interest income of RMB 510.68 billion, up 5.02%; net interest margin of 2.26%, down 5 bps from the previous year.
• Average return on assets and on average equity were 1.11% and 13.18%, respectively.
• Capital adequacy ratio stood at 17.52%, non-performing loan ratio was 1.42%, and provision coverage ratio was 227.69%.
• Based on these good results, the Board of Directors recommends a final cash dividend of RMB0.320 per share (tax included).

 

Beijing/Hong Kong, 29 October 2019 – China Construction Bank Corporation (stock code: SH: 601939 and HK: 939; “CCB” or the “Bank”) announced its operating results for the year 2019, which showed that as at the end of 2019, the Group’s total assets reached RMB25.44 trillion, up 9.53% from the previous year, in which loans and advances totaled RMB14.54 trillion, up 8.79%. Total liabilities reached RMB23.20 trillion, up 9.28%, including deposits of RMB18.37 trillion, up 7.35%. It saw good growth momentum in profits, with key indicators showing positive moves. It realized a net profit of RMB269.22 billion, up 5.32%, or 0.39 pps, from a year earlier. Net interest income rose by 5.02%, and net interest margin was 2.26%. Net fee and commission income increased by 11.58%. The return on average assets stood at 1.11%, the weighted average ROE was 13.18%, and the capital adequacy ratio was 17.52%, maintaining a leading position in the industry.

 

In 2019, with its missions and responsibilities as a large bank, CCB continued to innovate and made great efforts to promote the implementation of its strategies, drive business and improve operating performance across the Bank by proactively identifying, adapting to and pursuing opportunities from changes in the environment. Based on the "three capabilities" of serving the country’s construction, preventing financial risks, and participating in international competition, the Bank launched its "Second Curve" targeting government, business and consumer communities by leveraging the "Three Major Strategies" of house rental, inclusive finance and FinTech so as to meet economic and social development needs with New Finance actions focusing on people's desire and needs for a better life, promote the financial supply-side structural reforms, drive high-quality economic growth, and promote high-quality business development of the Bank, so as to achieve good economic and social benefits.

 

Enhancing the "three capabilities" to serve the real economy; Substantially enhanced capability to support national development

The Bank continued to support key national strategic projects, and proactively served the regional development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Yangtze River Delta. It made efforts to accelerate financial supply-side stock restructuring, increment optimization and economic momentum shift. On the basis of consolidating traditional advantages such as medium and long-term credit for infrastructure, we allocated credit resources in a targeted manner, and increased credit support in key areas such as advanced manufacturing, green finance, scientific and technological innovation, and social services. By fully leveraging our strengths as a banking group, we delivered credit support in various ways such as market-based debt-for-equity swap, trust, bond, leasing, and asset management. etc. The Bank improved efficiency in serving transport networks and outperformed the market by a leap-forward growth in ETC business. At the end of 2019, the balance of loans to the infrastructure sector amounted to RMB3.68 trillion, representing an increase of 6.49%; the balance of loans to strategic emerging industries was RMB 533.55 billion, up 38.38%; that to private businesses was RMB2.66 trillion, up 14.21%; and incremental local government debts exceeded RMB400 billion, all of which offered strong support to national construction and real economy development. Incremental debt-for-equity swaps amounted to RMB159.4 billion, ranking first among peers.

 

Enhanced capability in preventing financial risks

The Bank continued to improve its risk management system featuring comprehensiveness, proactiveness and intelligence, boosted the construction and optimization of the risk management IT system by strengthening digital, intelligent and intensive risk management and control, and further intensified credit risk management. As a result, asset quality remained stable and improved, and our ability to compensate risks was also gradually enhanced. The Bank established a solid foundation for liquidity management, played a role in stabilizing the market as a major bank, and supported the smooth operation of the financial market. It strengthened comprehensive and whole-process risk management, covering IT risk, compliance risk, operation risk and country risk, and promoted the opening and sharing of advanced risk management technologies and tools to create a new ecosystem for risk co-governance. The Bank continued to develop a sound, prudent, comprehensive, and proactive risk culture. It focused on the control of material risks identified in key fields and emerging businesses and gave full play to the role of comprehensive credit granting in resource allocation and structural adjustment. The Bank built a smart risk control system to accelerate the shift from manual control to machine control plus intelligent control. It stepped up the support of measurement tools to customer selection, management decision-making and risk management and control, and developed and adopted an online business risk investigation system. Improvements were made in quantity, quality and efficiency in terms of special asset resolution, operation and disposal. At the end of 2019, the Group registered a NPL ratio of 1.42%, down 0.04 pps from the previous year, and a NPL coverage ratio of 227.69%, up 19.32 pps from the previous year.

 

Enhanced capability in international competition

The Bank further improved its overseas presence. With the successful opening of its branches in Astana, Kazakhstan and Labuan, Malaysia, it now operates in 30 countries and regions around the world, with the RMB clearing banking services in the UK, Switzerland, and Chile operating steadily. The "One Policy for One Bank" principle facilitated the compliant and sound development of its overseas operations. Greater efforts were made to support the Belt and Road Initiative by providing financing support for over 150 major projects in countries along the Belt and Road. The Bank deepened cross-border financial cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and maintained a leading position in the industry in terms of operations in free trade areas. It served a total of 6.67 million domestic customers going global and overseas customers operating in China, reaching an all-time high. Intensified efforts were made to innovate in the cross-border financial services. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain and big data, it was one of the first banks to connect directly with the China International Trade Single Window with over 10 online financial services, keeping its industry-leading position. The number of subscribers on “cross border e+”, its integrated financial service platform, reached 150,000, up 173.60% from the previous year. It launched “Cross-border Quick Loans”, a series of online financing products, the first of its kind for small and micro businesses, granting loans of nearly RMB4 billion on cumulative basis. With domestic letter of credit, forfeiting, international factoring and re-factoring services deployed on its blockchain trade financing platform, a cumulative transaction amount of over RMB400 billion was realized.

 

Supporting social development by promoting the Three Major Strategies; Expanding "chain reaction" of the house rental business

By forming the House Rental Industrial Alliance, the Bank improved the leasing experience for people through mass allocation and specialised services and built a new house rental ecosystem that was open, pro-sharing and efficient. By connecting individual house rental platforms, the Bank created a network that had more than 20 million property listings online. Its “Digital Real Estate” system has expanded to over 40 cities across the country, helping enhance the governance capability in the housing sector. The "housing depositing" business has enabled the Bank to speed up the process of stimulating existing idle housing resources, and the cumulative contracted sales exceeded 800,000 units. New supplies such as Jianrong Apartments and New Urban Village House helped more people realize their housing dream.

 

Comprehensive advancing of inclusive finance through sophisticated platforms

The Bank adhered to its platform-based operations, continued to explore new, smart and eco-friendly models for inclusive finance, and fully improved the coverage, availability and client satisfaction of inclusive finance services. Guided by the development philosophy featuring digitalisation, platform, ecosystem and empowerment, the Bank promoted "Huidongni", "Huizhuni" and "Huidiantong" service platforms and the “three-in-one” operation and management platform for inclusive finance. It launched the "Mingonghui" platform with technological innovations in blockchain and big data, serving around four million customers on a cumulative basis. As at the end of 2019, the Bank’s balance of inclusive finance loans amounted to nearly RMB963.16 billion, an increase of RMB353.08 billion over the previous year, with nearly 1.33 million inclusive finance loan customers, up by nearly 310,000 from one year earlier. It granted loans of over RMB1.7 trillion on a cumulative basis through new products represented by "Rapid Loan for Small and Micro Businesses", benefiting nearly 1.03 million small and micro enterprises. It established an innovative integrated rural financial service platform, "CCB Yunongtong", to expand inclusive finance services to rural areas.

 

Greater effectiveness powered by FinTech

With a consolidated FinTech foundation, the Bank actively promoted the development of FinTech-based platforms such as AI, blockchain and IoT. Internally, it developed collaborative, evolving smart financial solutions to enhance digital operation and management capabilities. Leveraging the advantages of the New Generation core banking systems, it developed a unified view of enterprise-level customers, stepped up to create integrated smart channels with multiple contact points, and launched its "5G+ smart banking" service. The New Generation core banking system has been deployed in 29 overseas institutions to boost the sharing of CCB Group institutions, customers, products, services and channels. The Bank remains committed to building new retail banking business highlighting openness and sharing, mutually beneficial value creation, digital interconnectivity, and customer-centric, developing new corporate banking services with seamless integration of trading business and emerging business, and promoting smart, efficient inclusive finance services featuring strong risk control. It introduced 131 entries of data from external sources related to industry and commerce, taxation, social security and legal proceedings, put in place more than 40 business scenarios involving, for instance, risk prevention and control, and credit card management, and continued to deepen data applications. Externally, it built a new partner-based ecosystem involving G (government), B (businesses) and C (consumer) end with the concept of openness and sharing. It created smart government service platforms and developed the "five-in-one" service model combining functions of APP, PC terminal, outlet STM, "CCB Yunongtong" and government affair lobby.

 

 

Focusing on the pain points in people’s livelihoods and fulfilling responsibilities

CCB took targeted measures to support poverty alleviation, implemented the “Leap to 2020” targeted poverty alleviation financial action plan, and continued to increase support by granting targeted poverty alleviation loans. It took the initiative to combine targeted financial poverty relief with rural revitalisation effectively, and explored and promoted endogenous, sustainable poverty alleviation models driven by industrialisation, consumption and education. At the end of 2019, the balance of loans for targeted poverty alleviation amounted to RMB219.51 billion, an increase of RMB 28.75 billion over last year.

 

The Bank launched "Workers’ Harbour", creating resonance in the society with warmth and care. The 14,300 Workers’ Harbours set up at outlets have served 100 million people in total. “Workers’ Harbour” was awarded "Service Station for Outdoor Workers", the first co-developed brand granted by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. The Bank built CCB University with openness. It has established a platform for industry-education integration and school-enterprise cooperation as well as the Industry-Education Alliance for New Financial Talents. It has held "Jin Zhi Hui Min" training sessions for 1.35 million external trainees cumulatively, contributing to financial knowledge spread and financial capability sharing. It organized the activity “Ten Thousand College and University Students Go to the Countryside to Conduct Social Practice during Summer Vocation”, helping college and university students to have first-hand knowledge of rural areas and finance and to improve themselves.

 

By dedicating itself to public welfare alongside its employees, customers and partner charities and through business activities, the Bank helped more people in need and injected new positive energy into the society. In 2019, it donated RMB134 million in total, including RMB108 million for targeted poverty alleviation. In addition, it implemented long-term public service programs, such as CCB Hope Primary School, the Development Plan for Senior High Students and the Health Express for Mothers.

 

In 2019, CCB continued to receive widespread recognition from its customers and the market for its comprehensive strength, operating capabilities and service level. It won “The Asset Triple A Country Awards 2019 - Best Bank in China” by The Asset and the “Best Mega Trade Finance Bank in China” in 2019 by The Asian Banker. It, for the sixth consecutive year, ranked second on the Top 1000 World Banks 2019 list by the UK-based magazine The Banker. It ranked the 31st on the 2019 Global 500 list by the US-based magazine Fortune. It climbed to the third and ninth spots on Interbrand’s and BrandZ’s 2019 brand value rankings with an increase of 4% and 14% in brand value respectively. The Bank further raised its profile as a major bank.

 

Assisting in COVID-19 Prevention and Control; Support the Real Economy

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020 has posed unprecedented challenges to the economy and the society. By following the instructions of President Xi Jinping and the decisions and deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, CCB took the initiative and acted quickly. It introduced Ten Financial Support Measures for COVID-19 prevention and control and Twenty Detailed Rules on epidemic prevention and control at outlets and employee care immediately after the outbreak of COVID-19. It insisted on focusing on both preventing and controlling COVID-19 and supporting the real economy, stepped up efforts in Upholding Stability in Six Areas and helped businesses resume operation and production and prepare for spring farming. It opened a green channel for loan review and approval, lowered financing costs for the real economy by proactively reducing fees and offering discounts. It adopted Eight Measures to support micro and small businesses, and granted loans of over RMB90 billion to enterprises related to COVID-19 prevention and control in two months. The Bank also set up Anti-COVID-19 and Stable Development Fund of RMB5 billion. It donated a total of RMB298 million to Hubei and other epidemic-stricken areas and provided free insurance for medical staff fighting COVID-19. It fully rolled out the smart community management platform to assist in COVID-19 prevention, control and management, and deployed prevention and control related functions such as inquiry about updates on COVID-19 and online diagnosis on multiple channels. The Bank provided customers with a variety of financial products and services through online channels, and enabled households to order home delivery of vegetables and food through its expanded Online Food Supply by cooperating with relevant e-commerce platforms. Leveraging the momentum of digital operation, the Bank delivered comprehensive support and services through multiple online and offline channels to help people throughout the country to jointly overcome present challenges.

 

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic, CCB has mobilized its overseas institutions across the world to bring about 17 million pieces of anti-epidemic medical supplies back to China, so as to help mitigate the pressing needs of the frontline medical personnel for such medical supplies. Currently, the prevention and control of domestic epidemic in China has achieved delightful phased results, but it is witnessing a rapid spread of the pandemic outside China. CCB has been quick to initiate its overseas emergency aid. On the one hand, CCB assigns the donation of the existing anti-epidemic medical supplies to the countries and regions which are suffering from the severe epidemic. On the other hand, CCB purchases and donates related medical supplies by leveraging the gradually recovering production capacity and its solid client base in the domestic market, keeps abreast of the foreign governments and medical institutions’ demands for anti-epidemic medical supplies, and builds the cross-border matchmaking platform to support the domestic enterprises’ timely exports and the anti-epidemic work in foreign countries and regions. To date, CCB has completed an overseas donation of about 900,000 pieces of anti-epidemic medical supplies, including 50 intensive care ventilators, as well as protective clothing and surgical N95 masks, with a total value of about RMB15 million. These medical supplies have been donated to eighteen countries and regions, including South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Italy, France, Spain, Holland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Hungary, Russia, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Germany and Hong Kong SAR.

 

2020 is the year CCB intends to further promote its "three major strategies". In the midst of the complicated domestic and international environment and various challenges, as well as uncertainties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, CCB will maintain its strategic focus, continue to enhance the construction of its "three capabilities", adhere to the strategic planning of “New Finance + hi-tech” and accelerate the expansion of digital operations effectively. It will further emphasize services such as inclusive finance, agriculture-related finance, community finance, home rental, and FinTech, promoting New Finance practices. As a major bank, CCB will continue to shoulder its responsibility for supporting anti-epidemic efforts and serving economic and social development at the same time, spare no effort in fighting the "three tough battles", and draw its "Second Curve" with New Finance initiatives in order to further facilitate the high-quality development of the Bank and make a positive contribution to the building of a moderately prosperous society and the success of the 13th Five-Year Plan.

 

About CCB

China Construction Bank Corporation, headquartered in Beijing, is a large-scale, leading commercial bank in China. Its predecessor, China Construction Bank, was established in October 1954. It was listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2005 (stock code: 939) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange in September 2007 (stock code: 601939). At the end of 2019, it had a market cap of about US$217,686 million, ranking fifth among all listed banks in the world. It ranks second among global banks in terms of Tier 1 capital.

 

The Bank provides customers with a full range of financial services, including personal banking, corporate banking, investment and wealth management. With 14,912 branches and 347,156 employees, it serves hundreds of millions of individual and corporate customers. It has subsidiaries in multiple sectors such as mutual fund, leasing, trust, insurance, futures, pension and investment banking, and operates in 30 countries and regions with around 200 overseas entities.

 

The Bank upholds its “customer-centric, market-oriented” business philosophy and is committed to build a world class banking group with top value creation capability, accomplishing the combined goals of short-term and long-term benefits, and those of business operation and social responsibility, and ultimately realizing maximum value for the customers, shareholders, employees and the society.