All six major state-owned banks' AICs have been fully implemented, and the number of bank-affiliated platforms has expanded to nine institutions.

The Postal Savings Bank of China’s subsidiary, China Post Financial Asset Investment Co., Ltd. (referred to as “China Post Investment”), officially received approval to commence operations on March 20. This marks the establishment of the sixth state-owned major bank’s financial asset investment company (AIC), completing the full set of AIC licenses for the six largest state-owned banks. Including Industrial Bank, China Merchants Bank, and China CITIC Bank—three joint-stock banks that will also launch their AICs by the end of 2025—the total number of bank-affiliated AICs will reach nine, with six being state-owned banks and three joint-stock banks.

From Dominance of State-Owned Banks to Diversified Expansion

As a specialized platform connecting indirect and direct financing, AICs primarily provide “patient capital” to address the long-term financing challenges faced by enterprises, especially in the tech innovation sector. Looking back at industry development, in 2017, the first batch of AICs was established by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications. Their core mission was to serve market-oriented debt-to-equity swaps and resolve high leverage risks for enterprises, during a period when the industry was still in its early institutional stage.

By September 2024, the pilot cities for AIC equity investments expanded to 18. In March 2025, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice on further expanding the pilot for equity investments by financial asset investment companies, supporting eligible commercial banks to initiate AICs.

With continuous policy support and implementation, the expansion of AICs has accelerated significantly, with the industry lineup, initially dominated by large state-owned banks, continuing to grow. In 2025, Postal Savings Bank, China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank, and Industrial Bank were successively approved to establish AICs, with three of these joint-stock banks’ AICs approved to open by the end of the year. On March 20, this year, Postal Savings Bank announced that it received the approval from the National Financial Regulatory Authority for the opening of China Post Financial Asset Investment. According to this approval, the bank’s newly established China Post Investment was granted permission to operate, with a registered capital of 10 billion RMB, based in Beijing. With China Post Investment now operational, all six major state-owned banks’ AICs are in place, bringing the total number of bank-affiliated AICs to nine.

Zeng Gang, director of the Shanghai Financial and Development Laboratory, told Securities Daily that the opening of China Post Investment has three significant implications: first, the formation of a main entity pattern and the initial establishment of a multi-level AIC system; second, a shift in business focus toward technology equity investments, with a consensus forming around “early investment, small-scale investment, and hard tech”; third, the value of AICs as “patient capital” is confirmed, making them a key link in the “technology—industry—finance” cycle. Currently, AICs are moving from a license dividend period into a capability-driven deep operational phase, which will reshape the competitive landscape.

Accelerated Progress in Investment Projects

As AICs are established one after another, the pace of related investment projects has significantly quickened. Leading institutions such as ICBC, Bank of Communications, and China Construction Bank have set up numerous equity funds, mainly investing in pilot cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The pace of AIC projects under joint-stock banks has also continued to improve, with China Merchants Bank’s AIC participating in the capital increase of DeepBlue Automotive Technology, and China CITIC Bank’s AIC completing an investment in Shenzhen Honghua Topxin Clean Energy, becoming its second-largest shareholder.

Zeng Gang noted that, currently, the development paths of AICs under large state-owned banks and joint-stock banks are diverging. State-owned banks tend to adopt dual GP and parent-subsidiary fund structures, linking with local state assets and covering traditional and emerging industries. Joint-stock banks mainly focus on direct equity investments and investment-loan linkage, concentrating on strategic emerging industries like new energy and semiconductors, with a higher degree of marketization.

He believes that the dense deployment of AICs by banks is driven by multiple strategic considerations. Policy guidance is a key driver, as AICs are positioned as core carriers of technology finance. Establishing AICs is both a response to regulatory requirements and a way to seize policy dividends. Additionally, facing narrowing net interest margins and slowing traditional credit growth, AICs open a new track for banks’ equity investments, helping expand non-interest income and transition toward comprehensive financial service providers. Moreover, debt-to-equity swaps can activate existing assets and optimize risk structures, serving as risk management tools for banks.

However, Zeng Gang also pointed out that the development of bank-affiliated AICs still faces multiple challenges. The main issue is the difficulty in transforming the traditional “debt-oriented” mindset of banks’ credit culture into the “equity logic” required for equity investments, as there is a conflict between conservative risk control culture and the high-risk nature of equity investments, along with shortcomings in research and investment capabilities. Additionally, exit mechanisms are not yet mature, making some projects difficult to divest. Insufficient compensation incentives and an incomplete fault-tolerance mechanism also hinder the recruitment of talent in equity investment. He suggests that a key to breaking through these challenges is differentiated positioning: large state-owned banks should leverage their capital and customer advantages to focus on large-scale strategic projects and industrial chain integration, while joint-stock banks should capitalize on market-oriented advantages to deepen niche sectors and build professional barriers. Accelerating technological empowerment and enhancing research and risk identification capabilities are also necessary.

Yang Haiping, a researcher at the Shanghai Financial and Legal Research Institute, told Securities Daily that AICs are crucial for upgrading the financial system and developing specialized tech innovation financial models. Future focus areas could include: first, activating existing assets through market-oriented debt-to-equity swaps and other models to repair the balance sheets of micro entities; second, linking with local government fund-of-funds to boost tech innovation finance; third, collaborating with parent banks to explore integrated solutions for high-tech industry investment and commercial banking.