In compliance with the decisions and plans made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, China’s Ministry of Finance (hereinafter referred to as the MOF) will issue 500 billion yuan (about 68.5 billion US dollars) of special treasury bonds in 2025, to support Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank of China (hereinafter referred to as PSBC) in replenishing their core tier-one capital. On March 30, PSBC announced that it would issue A-shares to designated investors, which indicated the official launch of capital replenishment by the major state-owned banks.

PSBC will issue its A-shares to the MOF, China Mobile Group, and China State Shipbuilding Corporation, aiming to raise 130 billion yuan (about 17.8 billion US dollars) to strengthen its core tier-one capital, of which the MOF is to subscribe about 117.58 billion yuan (about 16.1 billion US dollars) via special treasury bonds, China Mobile Group about 7.85 billion yuan (about 1.1 billion US dollars), China State Shipbuilding Corporation about 4.57 billion yuan (about 0.6 billion US dollars). After relevant issuance expenses deducted, all proceeds will be used to strengthen the bank’s core tier-one capital. The issuance price is set at 6.32 yuan (about 0.87 US dollars) per share.

China’s major state-owned commercial banks currently enjoy stable operations, sound asset quality, and sufficient provisions for potential losses. Their key regulatory indicators remain within a “healthy range”. As the capital injections into the state-owned banks continue to yield results, the banking sector in China will leverage its strengthened capital base and enhanced service efficiency to infuse financial energy into long-term and high-quality economic development.