China Merchants Bank, CITIC, and Industrial Bank intensively expand: Unveiling the survival philosophy of joint-stock banks' AICs

China Merchants Bank, CITIC, and Industrial Bank intensively expand: Unveiling the survival philosophy of joint-stock banks' AICs

At the turn of the year, while GPs in the primary market are still shivering in the fundraising winter, three massive checks from banking institutions have quietly been directed toward new energy and hard technology sectors.

At the end of December 2025, CITIC Bank's newly launched subsidiary, CITIC Gold Investment, completed its first deal within just one week, acquiring a 49% stake in Shenzhen Ganghua Dingxin Clean Energy;

Almost at the same time, CMB Investment, under China Merchants Bank, appeared on the list of DeepBlue Auto's Series C round, investing 500 million yuan in cash;

As the AIC of Industrial Bank, Xingyin Investment, in just 45 days after its opening, made a concentrated purchase of key subsidiaries from three listed companies—Shengxin Lithium Energy, Kingfa Technology, and Dongyang Guang—investing a total of over 6 billion yuan.

With the intensive launch of AICs by Industrial Bank, China Merchants Bank, and CITIC Bank, the "5+0" monopoly of state-owned banks has been declared over.

The urgent moves by these three joint-stock banks reveal a survival philosophy different from that of state-owned banks—

They are no longer content to be the "financial backers" behind government mother funds, opting instead to appear directly on the shareholder lists of investee companies.

Three New Faces

Although all hold AIC licenses, the three joint-stock banks have shown different approaches in their first batch of projects.

Of the three newcomers, CMB Investment under China Merchants Bank has a registered capital of 15 billion yuan, 50% higher than Industrial and CITIC. This extra 5 billion not only serves as capital, but also as CMB Investment’s confidence in equity investment.

CMB Investment made its debut with DeepBlue Auto. In DeepBlue Auto’s recent 6.122 billion yuan Series C round, CMB Investment acquired about 2.42% equity, becoming the company's only direct banking AIC investor.

DeepBlue Auto revealed that this round of funding will be used for new car R&D, innovation in intelligent and electrification technologies, and branding on a global scale.

The logic of this deal is not just CMB Investment’s funding, but lies more in CMB’s "investment–banking integration" cross-border capital loop.

From the AIC’s equity investment, extending to CMB’s loans, and then to CMB International’s future sponsorship business, CMB Investment’s 500 million in equity may leverage 5 billion or even 50 billion of comprehensive financial services.

In Hong Kong equity sponsor activities, CMB International’s ranking has remained in the top tier, placing fourth in 2025, just behind CICC, CITIC Securities (including CLSA), and Huatai International;

For hard technology unicorns like DeepBlue Auto, who have major funding needs and expect overseas expansion and Hong Kong IPOs, CMB International’s sponsoring capabilities are a huge advantage.

By contrast, Xin Yin Jin Tou, registered in Guangzhou, has branded itself as a “group army” from the start;

As part of CITIC Bank’s integrated operations, Xin Yin Jin Tou will rely on the CITIC Group’s full financial licenses and join the “CITIC Equity Investment Alliance” ecosystem to enhance full-chain services: fundraising, investment, management, and exit.

Xin Yin Jin Tou, in only its first week of opening, closed its first deal, investing about 64.42 million yuan to hold a 49% stake in Shenzhen Ganghua Dingxin Clean Energy, becoming its second largest shareholder.

The deal amount is not large, but the equity ratio is extremely high—showing that Xin Yin Jin Tou values deep binding to projects more than widespread coverage.

The fastest mover, Xingyin Investment, demonstrated yet another tactic:

On its opening day, it signed strategic cooperation agreements with four investment firms including Fujian Jin Investment Asset Investment. 45 days post-launch, the total investment already exceeded 6 billion yuan;

Its portfolio—Zhiyuan Lithium, Kingfa Technology New Materials, Ganfeng Lithium Battery—focuses highly on new energy and new materials sectors.

Behind its speed is a special network strategy: not seeking full-sector coverage, but leveraging the “green bank” label and “Fujian business” circles for collaborative business development.

From current cases, Xingyin Investment seems to have avoided the large-scale “investment bank” narrative, opting for a more down-to-earth approach;

Its focus on serving Fujian local companies and industry chains, and the deep trust built through tech company lending, all improve Xingyin Investment’s capital deployment efficiency.

Tactical Iteration

Looking further back, you see joint-stock bank AICs have updated their strategies compared to state-owned banks' traditional models.

Let’s rewind to 2017.

That year, the five major state-owned banks—ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, and BoComm—launched their AICs to undertake the historic mission of market-oriented debt-to-equity swaps.

For a long time, state-owned bank AICs acted more like “cornerstone investors” with deep pockets, playing LP to help local governments alleviate debt, with a preference for fixed income returns.

A financial consulting industry insider noted that under the debt-resolution and risk-averse philosophy of major state-owned banks, AIC equity investment has been mainly in “debt-to-equity swaps + fund participation + direct investment”, further subdivided into categories like investment-loan linkage, mother fund + direct investment, government + AIC co-founded funds, or government + AIC + industry funds.

Xin Feng observed that as of January 12, 2025, state-owned bank AICs have invested in 633 institutions, more than 60% of which are ultimately controlled by the State Council, Ministry of Finance, local SOEs, or local finances;

For projects with first, second, or third-level shareholding layers, the proportions were 61.7%, 30.3%, and 7.5% respectively.

By the end of 2025, joint-stock bank AICs are rewriting the rules, with direct equity investment rising significantly in their deals.

This may be related to their more market-oriented mechanisms.

Since the pilot lifted restrictions, one repeatedly mentioned challenge for bank AICs is a shortfall in expertise due to long-term debt-oriented thinking.

If new teams stick with old loan logic for equity approval, sci-tech investment may devolve into “equity in name, debt in essence”;

If market-based profit-sharing isn’t established, top hard-tech investors won’t join the bank system.

An industry insider close to joint-stock bank AICs noted that as AICs evolve from banks for equity investment, they must address three issues: people, organization, mechanics:

First, form mechanisms to support patient capital (due diligence exemptions, long-term value, risk control, capital consumption);

Second, build market-based incentive systems—use compensation models matching those in equity investment institutions to attract professionals;

Third, build or bring in external structures to fill organizational gaps.

Joint-stock banks are highly anticipated because their market-based compensation, flexibility, and richer experience might break the bank-based “communal meals” model.

For example, CMB Investment’s team mainly comes from CMB International and CMB HQ;

Before AIC was set up, in 2024 CMB International’s overseas PE products already had 4 portfolio companies successfully go public and exit, and 4 domestic projects IPO’d—the team is highly experienced.

Currently, joint-stock bank AIC equity investments still mostly focus on listed-company subsidiaries.

DeepBlue Auto, held by CMB Investment, is under Changan Auto, a Shenzhen-listed firm;

Xin Yin Jin Tou’s investment in Ganghua Dingxin traces back to Hong Kong–listed Towngas China;

Xingyin Investment focused on Sichuan Zhiyuan Lithium, Ruyuan Dongyang Guang Fluorine, Kingfa New Materials, Ganfeng Lithium Battery—associating with listed Shengxin Lithium, Dongyang Guang, Kingfa Technology, Ganfeng Lithium.

For AICs, investing in assets with listed company backgrounds seems to provide a “safety cushion”.

The consulting insider said AIC’s current “listed company closed loop” strategy is now very common among broker-affiliated PEs;

This model serves listed companies facing restrictions on additional share issuance, convertible bonds, capital expenditures, or high leverage causing short-term funding strains.

“Equity investments in subsidiaries optimize listed company assets. The listed firm provides performance repurchase, forming a closed loop, and financial institutions bind themselves to the listed company’s needs, offering comprehensive financial services,” the insider noted.

This shows joint-stock bank AICs' early-stage balancing act—

Banks have an inherent risk aversion, while the primary market’s essence is risk-taking—the “closed-loop strategy” sidesteps the early project demise risk and harvests quality existing assets in the gap created by limits on new equity issues.

However, the insider also pointed out, “This strategy still targets mature companies, not real ‘early or small’ investment, and might miss opportunities in the growth phase.”

Who’s Next in Line?

With the three joint-stock banks firing the starting shot, a wave of AIC expansion is now irreversible;

According to industry sources, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and China Everbright Bank both plan to set up AICs.

As a joint-stock bank headquartered in Shanghai, SPD Bank sits on the Yangtze River Delta innovation hub and has accumulated experience through its Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Bank (formerly SPD Silicon Valley Bank), giving it early-mover advantage in investment–loan linkage and identifying risks among tech companies.

As early as 2020, SPD Bank’s board approved a proposal to invest 10 billion yuan to launch an AIC, though at the time its AIC’s business focused on internal debt-to-equity swaps for deleveraging.

In recent years, SPD Bank has explored equity investment in many ways.

For example, it developed “SPD Investment-Loan” for early-stage hard-tech companies, using a “loan + external direct investment” approach—SPD Bank matches a proportionate loan to the amount invested by high-quality external equity investors;

In cross-border business, it led syndicate loans for privatization of prominent Chinese ADRs like WuXi AppTec, and introduced in-house platforms like SPD International to join direct overseas investments.

SPD Bank also has an SME-oriented Shanghai Science & Technology Innovation Bank;

With these accumulated strengths, if SPD launches an AIC, its approach may favor early-stage incubation in hard-tech, seeking Alpha in semiconductors, biomedicine, and other Shanghai-dominant industries.

China Everbright Bank also has considerable equity investment practice; its wealth management and overseas subsidiaries have engaged in this business, especially in collaborative investment–loan models.

For example, Everbright Wealth Management has been at the forefront exploring equity warrants, where the bank first provides a loan to a tech company, and via agreement obtains an option to invest in equity at a future date.

In 2023, Everbright Wealth registered its first warrant projects at the Beijing Equity Exchange, and became the first to offer warrant registration/custody on Shanghai’s pilot platform the next year;

The self-developed “Yangguang Zixinxiang” series of PE products embeds warrant projects and channels capital toward “specialized, refined, distinctive, innovative” SMEs.

As of the end of November 2025, Everbright Wealth had signed warrant agreements with more than 280 high-tech enterprises;

By mid-2024, Everbright International revealed it acted as equity investor in the system’s first “bank–securities–investment synergy” warrant deal, joining Yuedong New Energy’s equity financing.

If AIC licensing comes through, Everbright Bank will gain far more room to flex its muscles in equity investment.

As more joint-stock banks join, by the now-arrived 2026, more “bank-affiliated” capital may pour into the “long-parched” primary market;

But whether such funds brought by bank AICs can truly evolve from “bank capital” to “patient capital” remains to be seen.

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