The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC; zh, 中国工商银行) is a Chinese partially state-owned multinational banking and

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

corporation headquartered in

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. It is the largest of the " big four" banks in China, and the largest bank in the world by total assets. ICBC was created on from what were then the commercial banking operations of the

People's Bank of China The People's Bank of China (officially PBC and unofficially PBOC) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China. It is responsible for carrying out monetary policy as determined by the ''PRC People's Bank Law'' and the ''PRC Commercia ...

. ICBC is majority-owned by the Chinese government and has remained so after its landmark

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

in 2006. As end of 2021, ICBC shareholders included

Central Huijin Investment Central Huijin Investment Ltd. is a Chinese sovereign fund company under the China Investment Corporation owned by the State Council of China. Established in 2003 by the People's Bank of China, five years later it became a wholly-owned subsidia ...

(34.7 percent), the Chinese Ministry of Finance (31.1 percent), the

National Council for Social Security Fund National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

(3.5 percent), adding up to 69.3 percent under the ultimate control of the Ministry of Finance. ICBC became the world's largest bank by total assets in 2012 (based on year-end balance sheet) and has kept this rank ever since.Francis Garrido & Saqib Chaudhry (2019) �
The world's 100 largest banks
published 5 April 2019 by S & P Global – accessed 8 February 2020 It was ranked first on the

Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by: sales, profit, assets and market value. The list has been published annually since 2003. By country Forbes Global 2000 as of 2023: ...

list of the world's top public companies in 2015. On , it was the third-largest bank in the world by market capitalization at $211 billion. It is one of the most profitable companies in the world, ranking fourth according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' in 2022. It has been designated a

systemically important bank A systemically important financial institution (SIFI) is a bank, insurance company, or other financial institution whose failure might trigger a financial crisis. They are colloquially referred to as "too big to fail". As the 2008 financial cri ...

by the

Financial Stability Board The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established in the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) ...

(FSB) since the start of the FSB's listing. Several former employees of ICBC have moved on to work in prominent government positions in China. Notable ICBC alumni include

China Securities Regulatory Commission The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is a government agency directly under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It is the main regulator of the securities industry in China. History Indicative of the role of the C ...

Chairman Yi Huiman and

Governor

Pan Gongsheng Pan Gongsheng (; born July 8, 1963) is a Chinese economist and politician who is the current Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary and governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC). He served as the Director of the State Administration of F ...

History

Background

Following the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution was a social revolution, social and political revolution in China that began in 1927 and culminated with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The revolution was led by the Chinese C ...

in 1949, China adopted a so-called

monobank system A single-tier banking system is a policy framework under which all credit institutions coexist without distinction about the quality of their liabilities, or in other words, there is no distinction between central bank money and broad money. This ...

in which all financial operations were operated by the

(PBC). In 1978-1979, the Chinese authorities initiated banking reform,D. Luo (2016) —
The Development of the Chinese Financial System and Reform of Chinese Commercial Banks
p.1 – 1.1, published Springer 8 March 2016 , The Nottingham China Policy Institute Series – accessed 26 February 2020 whose effect was to transform the PBC into a proper

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

while specialized commercial banks were formed under its watch. This resulted in the gradual establishment of a

two-tier banking system A single-tier banking system is a policy framework under which all credit institutions coexist without distinction about the quality of their liabilities, or in other words, there is no distinction between central bank money and broad money. This ...

1984–2006

By rights of a contradiction within the economic functioning of the government of China, the People's Republic, the

State Council of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

, during September 1983 made a decision to separate certain activities of the government to an exclusively operating organisation, subsequently named the Industrial and Commercial bank of China,http://www.icbc-ltd.com/ICBCLtd/About%20Us/ICBC%20History/ – accessed 8 February 2020 established on 1 January 1984. ICBC was then the fourth of the four specialist banks of 1978–1979 to be made, from the taking of control of commercial activities ("industrial credit and savings business") – re-access (using translation function) 26 February 2020) from

so that the latter might be transformed to a newly made central bank.Vários Autores, Hassanali Mehran, Bernard Laurens, Marc Quintyn, Thomas Nordman,

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

Staff (1996) — Monetary and Exchange System Reforms in China: An Experiment in Gradualism
p.12 (loads to 10)
published by the International Monetary Fund 26 September 1996 , , IMF Occasional Paper no. 141 – accessed 26 February 2020 ICBC focused on the

intermediation An intermediary, also known as a middleman or go-between, is defined differently by context. In law or diplomacy, an intermediary is a third party who offers intermediation services between two parties. In trade or barter, an intermediary acts ...

of deposits. ICBC opened its first overseas branch in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 1993. It opened a branch in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in 1999, which became its European headquarters in 2011. In 2000, ICBC acquired the

Union Bank of Hong Kong The Union Bank of Hong Kong (Former stock code: )(Traditional Chinese: 香港友聯銀行) was a bank in Hong Kong. It became the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) (Traditional Chinese: 中國工商銀行 (亞洲)). The bank was estab ...

and renamed it

ICBC (Asia) The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia), abbreviated as ICBC (Asia), is a licensed bank incorporated in Hong Kong. It is a subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. History On 21 August 2000, ICBC acquired the Union ...

. A Hong Kong-listed entity, ICBC (Asia) then purchased the Hong Kong subsidiary of

Fortis Bank BNP Paribas Fortis is an international bank based in Belgium and a subsidiary of French banking group BNP Paribas. The bank was created in May 2009 after BNP Paribas acquired 75% of the Belgian Fortis Bank from the Federal Participation and Inve ...

, originally the Hong Kong branch of the

Banque Belge pour l'Étranger The ''Banque Belge pour l'Étranger'' (BBE, ) was a Belgian bank that channeled many international banking operations of its controlling shareholder the Société Générale de Belgique (SGB) in the first half of the 20th century. It was original ...

, and rebranded it under its own name on 10 October 2005. In June 2005, ICBC established

ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management (ICBCCS; ) is a Chinese asset management company founded in 2005. It is currently a joint venture (JV) between Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Credit Suisse. History ICBCCS was founded in ...

as a China

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with

Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston (also known as CSFB and CS First Boston) was the investment banking affiliate of Credit Suisse headquartered in New York. The company was created by the merger of First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse Group in 1 ...

and

COSCO China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was a former shipping corporation from 1961 to 2016, owned by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council of China. The company merged with China Shipping Group, China Shipping Grou ...

, with the three partners respectively holding 55, 25, and 20 percent of the venture's equity. Subsequently, ICBC bought out COSCO's stake and acquired an additional 5 percent from Credit Suisse. As of 2006, ICBC had 2.5 million corporate customers and 150 million individual customers.

Initial public offering

In the runup to its planned

, on 28 April 2006, three "strategic investors" injected US$3.7 billion into ICBC: *

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

purchased a 5.75% stake for US$2.6 billion, the largest sum

has ever invested. *

Dresdner Bank Dresdner Bank AG () was a German bank, founded in 1872 in Dresden, then headquartered in Berlin from 1884 to 1945 and in Frankfurt from 1963 onwards after a postwar hiatus. Long Germany's second-largest bank behind Deutsche Bank, it was eventually ...

invested US$1 billion. *

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

invested US$200 million. ICBC was simultaneously listed on both the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (, SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. It is one of the largest stock exchanges in Asia and the List of major stock exchanges, 9th largest globally by market ...

and

Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (, SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock ...

on 27 October 2006. It was the world's largest

at that time valued at US$21.9 billion, surpassing the previous record US$18.4 billion IPO by Japan's NTT DoCoMo in 1998. In 2010,

Agricultural Bank of China The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), also known as AgBank, is a Chinese partially state-owned multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, China. It is one of the " big four" banks in China, and the second ...

broke ICBC's IPO record when it raised $22.1 billion. China's largest commercial bank was also the first company to debut simultaneously on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. ICBC raised at least US$14 billion in Hong Kong ( H-shares) and another US$5.1 billion in Shanghai ( A-shares). Due to heavy subscriptions, the

greenshoe Greenshoe, or over-allotment clause, is the term commonly used to describe a special arrangement in a U.S. registered share offering, for example an initial public offering (IPO), which enables the investment bank representing the underwriters to ...

(i.e. over-allotment) placements were exercised and ICBC's take rose to US$21.9 billion (17% of ICBC's market value before the IPO), divided in US$16 billion in Hong Kong and US$5.9 billion in Shanghai. Following the global offering, the

free float In the context of stock markets, the public float or free float represents the portion of Share (finance), shares of a corporation that are in the hands of public investors as opposed to locked-in shares held by promoters, company officers, control ...

of shares was 22.14% of the

market capitalization Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

. At the end of its first day of trading, the bank's shares closed up almost 15% at HK$3.52 in Hong Kong, compared with the listing price of HK$3.07, which was set at the top of the indicative range due to the strong demand. According to

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

, ICBC's

market capitalisation Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

at the end of trade based on its Hong Kong shares was US$156.3 billion, making its equity the world's fifth highest among banks, just behind

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...

. Meanwhile, ICBC's Shanghai-listed A-shares recorded more modest gains and ended up 5.1% from the offering price of RMB 3.12.

Later developments

In July 2007, ICBC was ranked 30th in the world in terms of revenue. In August 2008, ICBC became the second Chinese bank since 1991 to gain US federal approval to establish a branch in New York City. ICBC had signed a lease with the

Trump Organization Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

for office space in the

Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use condominium skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organiza ...

in 2008. ICBC was Trump Tower's largest office tenant as of 2012. By October 2020, Donald Trump received $5.4 million from ICBC via the Trump Tower lease. In June 2009, ICBC spent 80.25 million Canadian dollars (US$58.53 million) to acquire a 70% stake in the

Bank of East Asia The Bank of East Asia Limited, often abbreviated to BEA, is a Hong Kong public banking and financial services company headquartered in Central, Hong Kong, Central, Hong Kong. It is currently the largest independent local Hong Kong bank, and o ...

(BEA). By the end of 2009, the number of credit cards issued exceeded 52 million, a 33% increase equivalent to nearly 13 million cards compared to the previous year. Including other types of bank cards, this bank has issued more than 280 million cards, becoming the 4th largest credit card issuer in the world. On 24 January 2011, ICBC opened a branch office in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. On 20 May 2011, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. established two branches in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, one in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and the other in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

. On 18 August 2011, ICBC passed the examination from

State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the central bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was nationalised and the scope ...

and started its business in Pakistan. During November 2012, ICBC acquired from

Standard Bank Standard Bank (officially Standard Bank Group Limited) is the largest bank in Africa, as well as the continent's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is located in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The ...

an 80% stake (valued at $600 million) of the former subsidiary of

BankBoston BankBoston was an American bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. One of its predecessor banks started in 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by FleetB ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, which Standard Bank had purchased in 2006. This was the largest operation of a Chinese bank in Latin America. In Argentina, the bank has ~1,000,000 individual customers, ~30,000 companies of all categories and more than 1600 corporate companies. During the

2013 Korean crisis The following lists events that happened in 2013 in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In 2013, tensions between North Korea and South Korea, the United States, and Japan escalated because of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2 ...

, ICBC halted business with a North Korean bank accused by the United States of financing Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs. It was announced at the end of July 2013 that South Africa's

was in talks to sell its markets business in London to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for more than $500 million. The transaction was completed on , after which the London-based operation has been known as ICBC Standard Bank. In 2014, ICBC was the largest company in the world according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, with revenue reaching 148.7 billion USD and profit amounting to 42.7 billion USD. On 24 September 2014, ICBC Kuwait Branch officially opened in Kuwait City as the first and currently the only Chinese bank in Kuwait. Meanwhile, it is also the fourth branch of ICBC in the Middle East, following branches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. On 25 May 2015, the Company further strengthened its presence in the Middle East and Europe by purchasing Turkey's TekstilBank and forming its

ICBC Turkey ICBC Turkey Bank A.Ş., formerly known as Tekstilbank A.Ş. was founded in 1986. In 2014, GSD Holding A.Ş sold their 75.5% stock to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. The acquisition completed in April 2015. In November 2015, the name of t ...

subsidiary. ICBC Financial Services, the bank's brokerage unit, provided about $88 billion of repo financing at the end of 2015, up from $59 billion two years ago, according to regulatory filings. The figures are before netting agreements that can be used to reduce overall assets and liabilities. Almost all the repo financing that ICBC provides is on U.S. government bonds. On 18 November 2016, the bank obtained a license to take deposits in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. ICBC launched robo-advisor service to its wealth-management operations in 2017. As of April 2019, ICBC had lent US$100 billion for

Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...

projects. In BRI-participating countries, ICBC has 124 branches. In November 2023, the bank was subject to a

ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware that Encryption, encrypts the victim's personal data until a ransom is paid. Difficult-to-trace Digital currency, digital currencies such as paysafecard or Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, cryptocurrencies are com ...

attack, preventing certain trades from clearing. The attack was against the US unit of ICBC, which at the time was considered the world's largest lender by assets, as reported by ''Bloomberg''. The bank was hacked by

LockBit LockBit is a cybercriminal group proposing ransomware as a service (RaaS). Software developed by the group (also called ransomware) enables malicious actors who are willing to pay for using it to carry out attacks in two tactics where they not o ...

, a ransomware group. described by ''Bloomberg'' as "a criminal gang with ties to Russia." The attack against ICBC resulted in the bank being unable to clear a large number of US Treasury trades over the next day and forced others to reroute orders, upsetting normal operations. Lockbit ultimately claimed that the bank paid the ransom, a statement which

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

was unable to verify.

Finances

Accounting

ICBC has the policy of preparing accounts conforming to the

International Financial Reporting Standards International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly called IFRS, are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing the company's fi ...

, accepting specifically criteria

IFRS 9 IFRS 9 is an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). It addresses the accounting for financial instruments. It contains three main topics: classification and measureme ...

(pertains to the definition and rating of asset, liability, and a number of all of the existing purchasing contracts for non-financial purchases) from 1 January 2018, and

IFRS 16 IFRS 16 is an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) promulgated by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) providing guidance on accounting for leases. IFRS 16 was issued in January 2016 and is effective for most companie ...

(pertaining to

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

) from 1 January 2019.Offering Circular
p.6,

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

– accessdate 9 February 2020

Basic figures

Financials in

Renminbi The renminbi ( ; currency symbol, symbol: Yen and yuan sign, ¥; ISO 4217, ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB), also known as the Chinese yuan, is the official currency of the China, People's Republic of China. The renminbi is issued by the Peop ...

Environmental policy and record

In 2008, ICBC was the first Chinese bank to adopt the

Equator Principles The Equator Principles is a risk management framework adopted by financial institutions, for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in project finance. It is primarily intended to provide a minimum standard for due dil ...

, an international set of social and environmental standards for financial institutions launched in 2003. It has also adopted the Green Credit Policy launched in 2007 by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection. International environmental groups have criticized ICBC for failing to adhere to its social environmental standards and of being hypocritical, because ICBC is involved in the financing of the controversial

Gilgel Gibe III Dam The Gilgel Gibe III Dam is a 250m high roller-compacted concrete dam with an associated hydroelectric power plant on the Omo River in Ethiopia. It is located about west of Sodo in the South Ethiopia Regional State. Once fully commissioned, it ...

in Ethiopia. ICBC is among other state-owned banks to receive regulatory approval for a $13.6 billion (88.5 billion yuan) state-backed green fund in 2021. ICBC and Bank of China will finance environmentally friendly projects along the Yangtze River by investing 8 billion yuan each in the National Green Development Fund.

Subsidiaries and international business

is a major domestic subsidiary of ICBC in mainland China. International subsidiaries include

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

ICBC (Macau) The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited () formerly known as the Seng Heng Bank Limited () established in 2009, is the third largest locally incorporated bank in Macau, China. In August 2007, Industrial and Commercial Bank of Ch ...

, ICBC Standard Bank in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, ICBC (Europe) in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, ICBC Argentina in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, as well as other significant subsidiaries in Thailand, Pakistan, Switzerland, Canada, USA, and Mexico and a retail branch in

. ICBC (Europe) S.A., based in Luxembourg, operates a network covering branches in major European cities, namely Paris,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Brussels,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Madrid,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. ICBC had the lead role in creating the Belt and Road Inter-Bank Regular Cooperation (BRBR) system, which seeks to integrate financial services among the countries participating in the BRI. Among Chinese banks, ICBC has the most extensive business in the Arab countries. It has branches in major Gulf countries including UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar. File:ICBC Beijing.jpg, ICBC building in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

File:中国工商银行股份有限公司北京通州分行.jpg, ICBC branch building in Beijing File:ICBC Zhongshan Square branch.jpg, ICBC branch in

Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

File:金地大厦 - panoramio.jpg, ICBC building in

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

File:ICBC 285.JPG, ICBC building in

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

File:Former Bank of Chosen in Qingdao 01 2007-04.jpg, ICBC branch in

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

File:Building of Jiangsu Provincial Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.jpg, ICBC building in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

File:ICBC Tower from Bund.jpg, ICBC tower in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

File:Old Yokohama Bank-Bund.jpg, ICBC building on

the Bund The Bund is a waterfront area and a protected historical district in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road (East Zhongshan Road No.1) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the wester ...

in Shanghai File:Commercial Bank in Ningbo.JPG, ICBC building in

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

File:SHENZHEN KINGKEY ORIENTAL REGENT HOTEL (7).jpg, ICBC at Kingkey Regent Oriental Hotel in

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

File:SZ 深圳 Shenzhen 福田 Futian 益田路 Yitian Road 福華三路 Fuhua 3rd Road October 2017 IX1 ICBC Kerry Shangri-La.jpg, ICBC tower in Shenzhen File:HK Central Queen' s Road Cheung Kong Tower drop off n Pick-up zone view Citibank Plaza facades Mar-2014 uniform guard.JPG, ICBC tower in

Central, Hong Kong Central (Chinese: 中環), also known as Central District, is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in the northeastern corner of the Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Har ...

File:ICBC Tokyo Branch.jpg, ICBC tower in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

File:ICBC Tower Karachi.jpg, ICBC tower in

File:Bank ICBC Luxembourg.jpg, ICBC building in

File:Paris Haussmann ICBC.jpg, ICBC branch in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

File:ICBC Kamienica pod Gryfami.JPG, ICBC building in

File:ID 310 EX Bank of Boston 5282.jpg, ICBC building (formerly First National Bank of Boston) in

File:Torre madero icbc cropped.jpg, in Buenos Aires, partly occupied by ICBC

Leadership

President of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China * , president January 1984 - July 1985 * , president July 1985 - January 1997 * , president January 1997 - February 2000 * Jiang Jianqing, president February 2000 - October 2005, chairman October 2005 - May 2016 * , president October 2005 - May 2013 * Yi Huiman, president May 2013 - September 2016, chairman September 2016 - January 2019 * Gu Shu, president September 2016 - January 2021 * Chen Siqing, chairman April 2019 - February 2024 * , president since January 2021, chairman since February 2024 As of 17 May 2020, the full board membership was: * Chen Siqing ( 陈四清), chairman of ICBC, former

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Banco da China'') is a state-owned Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of ...

chairman * Gu Shu, president of ICBC * Lu Yongzhen, former director on the

National Development and Reform Commission The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is the third-ranked executive department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, which functions as a macroeconomic management agency. Established as the State Planning C ...

* Zheng Fuqing, former

Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China The Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China is the Constituent departments of the State Council, constituent department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China which administers macroeconomic policies and the annu ...

official * Mei Yingchun, former Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China and

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

official * Feng Weidong, former secretary of the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China * Cao Liqun, former

State Administration of Foreign Exchange The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of the People's Republic of China is an administrative agency under the State Council tasked with drafting rules and regulations governing foreign exchange market activities, and managing the ...

official * Anthony Francis Neoh, former Hong Kong SEC chairman * Yang Siu Shun, former chairman of

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...

Hong Kong * Shen Si, former executive director of

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, branded as Pufa Bank in Chinese and SPD Bank in English, is a city-owned joint-stock commercial bank. It was established in 1993 and owned by the Shanghai Municipal Government. Shanghai Pudong Development Ban ...

* Nout Wellink, former president and chairman of

De Nederlandsche Bank De Nederlandsche Bank (, , abbr. DNB) is the national central bank for the Netherlands within the Eurosystem. It was the Dutch central bank from 1814 to 1998, issuing the guilder. Since 2014, it has also been the country's national competent au ...

* Fred Zuliu Hu, former

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...

and

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

official

Controversies

In 2005, the Chinese government arrested several government officials in addition to bankers with regards to the accusation of a scheme to take illegally US$900 million from ICBC. ICBC lent $400 million towards the completion of the Gibe III dam in Ethiopia. Groups that opposed the dam such as

International Rivers International Rivers is a nonprofit, nongovernmental, environmental, and human rights organization. Founded in 1985 by social and environmental activists, International Rivers works with policy and financial analysts, scientists, journalists, ...

and

Survival International Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969, a London based charity that campaigns for the collective rights of Indigenous, tribal and uncontacted peoples. The organisation's campaigns generally focus on tribal people ...

have complained about or have written to ICBC against the dam's funding. In November 2015, ICBC Standard Bank, an overseas subsidiary acquired in February of that year, agreed to pay a fine of a maximum of $40 million to UK authorities. On 17 February 2016, the Spanish Guardia Civil supported by

Europol Europol, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU). Established in 1998, it is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and serves as the central hub for coordinating c ...

, arrested six executives of the Spanish location of the bank accused of

money-laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds into ...

, who were convicted in 2020 by the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; ) is a high court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in certain kinds of crime, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those committed against the Crown and i ...

. In 2018, the US Federal Reserve had found "serious deficiencies" of the bank on anti-money laundering protections. On 12 August 2021, a former senior banker at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Gu Guoming was sentenced to life in jail by Chinese authorities, after being found guilty of

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

Awards

* ''

'' – the World's Largest Public Company

References

Bibliography

Flora Xiao Huang, Horace Yeung (2019
Chinese Companies and the Hong Kong Stock Market
sub-heading 6.4.4, published by Routledge, 30 October 2013 ,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China 2006 initial public offerings Chinese brands Chinese companies established in 1984 Banks established in 1984 Companies based in Beijing Companies in the CSI 100 Index Companies in the FTSE China A50 Index Companies in the S&P Asia 50 Companies in the Hang Seng Index Companies in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Government-owned banks of China H shares Multinational companies headquartered in China Systemically important financial institutions 1984 in Beijing