On August 20, against a backdrop where most city commercial banks are grappling with narrowing net interest margins, Bank of Chongqing Co., Ltd. unveiled a half-year report that saw both its revenue and profit maintain double-digit growth.

During the first half of 2026, Bank of Chongqing Co., Ltd. reported operating revenue of RMB 8.486 billion, up 10.79% year-on-year, while net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company reached RMB 3.518 billion, a 10.29% increase from the same period last year.

What has particularly captured the market's attention is that its net interest margin expanded by 7 basis points to 1.46% during a period when yields on interest-earning assets were broadly declining. A breakdown of the earnings structure reveals that this counter-trend performance was primarily fueled by a rapid reduction in the cost of interest-bearing liabilities.

In the first half of the year, the average cost rate on interest-bearing liabilities dropped 41 basis points year-on-year to 1.88%, with the average cost rate on customer deposits falling 46 basis points to 1.87%. This cost reduction on the liability side drove net interest income up 26.04% to RMB 7.389 billion, lifting its share of total operating revenue to 87.08%.

However, while net interest income served as the single engine driving revenue growth, non-interest income exhibited notable volatility. During the period, non-interest net income stood at RMB 1.097 billion, down 38.96% year-on-year, weighing on overall revenue. Investment income fell to RMB 609 million, a sharp 61.61% contraction, while net fee and commission income declined 11.81%, primarily dragged down by a 30.66% drop in agency wealth management business income.

On the asset side, credit deployment displayed a clear structural divergence. Supported by projects linked to the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, the bank's total corporate loan principal reached RMB 462.801 billion, up 12.91% from the end of last year, with medium- and long-term corporate loans rising to 94.28% of the total. As of the end of June, the bank had extended over RMB 140 billion in credit support to the Economic Circle, while manufacturing loans surpassed RMB 41 billion, becoming a core driver of asset expansion.

Conversely, retail credit experienced a broad contraction. By the end of June, total retail loan principal had fallen to RMB 88.554 billion, down 8.43% from the start of the year. Balances of mortgage loans, personal consumer loans, and personal business loans declined 5.41%, 11.98%, and 6.87%, respectively, compared to the end of last year. Amid weakening household borrowing demand, the shrinking retail loan book pushed the average yield on customer loans and advances down from 4.35% in the same period last year to 4.14%. Meanwhile, bill discounting balances grew 27.22% from the end of last year to RMB 28.689 billion.

In terms of asset quality, Bank of Chongqing Co., Ltd. maintained a relatively stable performance. As of the end of June, the non-performing loan ratio had improved by 3 basis points year-on-year to 1.11%, the proportion of special-mention loans fell 13 basis points to 1.81%, and the provision coverage ratio climbed to 247.31%.

That said, improvements on the liability side face structural constraints. During the period, total customer deposits reached RMB 627.202 billion, up 10.87% from the end of last year, but the mix showed a trend toward time deposits, with personal time deposits growing 15.32% while personal demand deposits declined 2.00%.

Meanwhile, rapid corporate loan expansion pushed risk-weighted assets up 8.08% from the end of last year, dragging the period-end capital adequacy ratio down to 12.38%, the tier 1 capital adequacy ratio to 9.57%, and the core tier 1 capital adequacy ratio to 8.56%, a marginal 3-basis-point uptick from the end of last year.