An urban commercial bank or city-based commercial bank refers to a type of bank in China operating locally with significant shares from the local government. Founded as urban credit cooperatives in 1980s, it aimed to provide funds for local small and medium-sized enterprises and stimulate local economy.
There are currently 162 urban commercial banks operating across China.[1] In 2017, the total assets and liabilities of all urban commercial banks combined was 31721.7 billion yuan, making up 12.70% of all Chinese banks.[2] Typical examples include Bank of Beijing, Bank of Shanghai and Bank of Jiangsu.[3]
The first urban commercial bank was Shenzhen City Commercial Bank in 1995. In 1998, the central bank of China, People's Bank of China, advocated urban credit cooperative to change their names into urban commercial banks.
Most city commercial banks have strong ties to their local government and are majority or wholly state owned. Since 2005 some city commercial banks diversify their shareholders, inviting Chinese and international private companies to take minority shares, merging and cross-shareholding. Some of the banks have listed their shares.
Since 2008, an observable trend has emerged for city commercial banks to extend business beyond their home region. They are also often the main shareholder behind village and township banks (VTB). Taizhou City Commercial Bank, Bank of Beijing, Bank of Tianjin and Bank of Ningbo are examples for city commercial banks operating in such ways.
| Name | Chinese | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of Beijing | Chinese: 北京银行 | Beijing |
| Bank of Shanghai | Chinese: 上海银行 | Shanghai |
| Bank of Jiangsu | Chinese: 江苏银行 | Jiangsu |
| Bank of Ningbo | Chinese: 宁波银行 | Ningbo |
| Shengjing Bank | Chinese: 盛京银行 | Shenyang |
| Huishang Bank | Chinese: 徽商银行 | Hefei |
| Bank of Hangzhou | Chinese: 杭州银行 | Hangzhou |
| Bank of Tianjin | Chinese: 天津银行 | Tianjin |
| Harbin Bank | Chinese: 哈尔滨银行 | Harbin |
| Xiamen International Bank | Chinese: 厦门国际银行 | Xiamen |