China Merchants Bank, CITIC Bank, and Industrial Bank intensively lay out: Uncovering the survival philosophy of joint-stock banks AIC

At the end of the year, while the GPs in the primary market are shivering in fear of a fundraising winter, three large checks from bank-affiliated entities have quietly flowed into the new energy and hard technology sectors.

By the end of December 2025, just one week after its establishment, Xinyin Jintou, a subsidiary of CITIC Bank, quickly completed its first deal, acquiring 49% of the equity in Shenzhen Ganghua Dingxin Clean Energy;

Almost simultaneously, Zhaoyin Investment, a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, appeared on the financing list for Deep Blue Automotive's Series C round, spending 500 million yuan in cash;

As AIC under Industrial Bank, Xinyin Investment made intensive purchases of core subsidiaries from three listed companies: Shengxin Lithium Energy, Jinfatech, and Dongyangguang, within 45 days of its establishment, with total investments exceeding 6 billion yuan.

With the intensive establishment of AICs by Industrial Bank, China Merchants Bank, and CITIC Bank, the "5+0" monopoly pattern of state-owned banks has come to an end.

The eager moves of the 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, choosing instead to appear directly in the shareholder lists of the invested enterprises.

Three New Faces

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

Among the three newly established AICs, Zhaoyin Investment under China Merchants Bank boasts a registered capital of 15 billion yuan, which is 5 billion yuan higher than both Industrial Bank and CITIC Bank, providing Zhaoyin with confidence in the equity investment battlefield.

Zhaoyin Investment's debut choice was Deep Blue Automotive, where it acquired approximately 2.42% of the equity in the recently completed 6.122 billion yuan Series C financing, becoming the only bank-affiliated AIC direct investor in the company.

Deep Blue Automotive revealed that this round of financing will be used for new vehicle research and development, innovation in intelligent and electrification technologies, and enhancing global brand power.

The logic behind this transaction is not just Zhaoyin Investment's funds, but rather the "integration of investment and commercial banking" cross-border capital closed loop of China Merchants Bank.

From AIC's equity investment, extending to China Merchants Bank's loans, and then to the future sponsorship business of Zhaoyin International, the 500 million yuan equity investment by Zhaoyin Investment could leverage 5 billion or even 50 billion yuan in comprehensive financial services.

In the Hong Kong stock sponsorship business, Zhaoyin International has long maintained a leading position, ranking fourth in project numbers among peers in 2025, only behind CICC, CITIC Securities (including CITIC Lyon), and Huatai International;

For hard technology unicorns like Deep Blue Automotive, which have huge funding needs and expectations for overseas expansion and Hong Kong stock listings, Zhaoyin International's sponsorship capability is also a significant advantage.

In contrast, Xinyin Jintou, which chose Guangzhou as its registered location, has made its "army group" banner clear from the start;

As part of CITIC Bank's comprehensive operations, Xinyin Jintou will rely on the full licensing resources of CITIC Group, integrating into the "CITIC Equity Investment Alliance" ecosystem to enhance its full-chain service capabilities of "fundraising, investment, management, and exit."

Just one week after its establishment, Xinyin Jintou landed its first deal, investing approximately 64.42 million yuan to hold 49% of the equity in Shenzhen Ganghua Dingxin Clean Energy through capital increase, becoming its second-largest shareholder.

The case amount is not large, and the shareholding ratio is extremely high, indicating that Xinyin Jintou values deep binding to projects more than simply "casting a wide net." The fastest-moving Xingyin Investment has demonstrated another approach:

On the day of its opening, Xingyin Investment signed strategic cooperation agreements with four investment institutions, including Fujian Jin Investment Asset Investment. After 45 days of operation, the investment scale has exceeded 6 billion yuan;

The investment list includes Zhiyuan Lithium, Jinfeng Technology New Materials, and Ganfeng Lithium Battery, all of which are highly focused on the new energy and new materials sectors.

Behind the speed that surpasses its peers lies a special circle logic: not pursuing coverage of all tracks, but leveraging the "green bank" label and the synergy of the "Min business" circle for collaborative development.

From the current cases, Xingyin Investment may have avoided the high-profile narrative of large investment banks, choosing a more grounded path;

Focusing on serving local enterprises in Fujian and their industrial chains, as well as establishing deep trust through loans to technology companies, has improved the funding efficiency of Xingyin Investment.

Tactical Iteration

Looking back over a longer period, it can be seen that the strategy of joint-stock banks' AIC has iterated compared to the traditional model of state-owned banks.

Turning the clock back to 2017.

At that time, the five major state-owned banks—Industrial, Agricultural, China, Construction, and Communications—successively established AICs, shouldering the historical mission of market-oriented debt-to-equity swaps.

For a long time, the role of state-owned bank AICs resembled that of "cornerstone investors" holding substantial funds, choosing to act as LPs to cooperate with local governments in debt resolution, preferring fixed-income returns.

A practitioner from a financial consulting institution pointed out that under the past debt resolution needs and stable orientation of state-owned large banks, the equity investment practices of AICs mainly followed the "debt-to-equity swap + participation in funds + direct investment" model, which can be further divided into several major categories: investment-loan linkage, mother fund + direct investment, government + AIC established funds, and government + AIC + industry established funds.

Xinfeng noted that as of January 12, 2025, state-owned large bank AICs had invested in 633 institutions, with more than 60% of the invested enterprises being controlled by the State Council, the Ministry of Finance, local state-owned assets, and local finance;

The proportion of projects at the first, second, and third levels of shareholding is 61.7%, 30.3%, and 7.5%, respectively.

The joint-stock bank AICs entering the market at the end of 2025 are rewriting the rules, with the proportion of direct equity investment in projects led by joint-stock bank AICs significantly increasing.

This may be related to the more market-oriented mechanisms of joint-stock banks.

Since the pilot was opened up, one of the repeatedly mentioned challenges faced by bank AICs is the professional capability shortfall under long-term debt-oriented thinking.

If the new team continues to use the old framework to approve equity based on loan logic, technology investment may slide into "visible equity, actual debt";

If a market-oriented profit-sharing mechanism is not established, top hard technology investors will not settle within the banking system.

A practitioner close to joint-stock bank AICs pointed out that AICs, emerging from banks, must address issues at three levels—people, organization, and mechanism—when engaging in equity investment:

First, a mechanism supporting patient capital must be formed (due diligence exemption, long-term value, risk control, capital consumption);

Second, a market-oriented incentive system should be established, using compensation benchmarks of equity investment institutions to attract professionals;

Third, through self-building or external introduction, the missing organizational capabilities must be supplemented The joint-stock banks are highly anticipated, also due to their market-oriented compensation systems, flexible mechanisms, and richer experience, which are expected to break the "big pot rice" culture in banks.

For example, the team at China Merchants Bank Investment mainly comes from China Merchants International and the headquarters of China Merchants Bank;

Before the establishment of AIC, China Merchants International had already successfully listed and exited 4 investment projects in its 2024 overseas private equity products, and there were also 4 projects that successfully went public domestically, indicating the team's rich project experience.

Currently, the equity investment targets of joint-stock banks' AICs are still generally concentrated within the subsidiaries of listed companies.

Deep Blue Automotive, in which China Merchants Bank Investment holds shares, is affiliated with Changan Automobile, which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange;

The Hong Kong Gas Company, backed by Xinyin Jintou's investment, is a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange;

The companies targeted by Xinyin Investment, such as Sichuan Zhiyuan Lithium Industry, Ruyuan Dongyangguang Fluorine, Jinfeng Technology New Materials, and Ganfeng Lithium, correspond to listed entities on the A-share market like Shengxin Lithium Energy, Dongyangguang, Jinfeng Technology, and Ganfeng Lithium.

For AIC, investments in companies with listed backgrounds seem to come with an added layer of "safety cushion."

Industry insiders from the aforementioned consulting firm pointed out that AIC's current "listed company closed-loop" strategy has become quite common among brokerage private equity subsidiaries;

This model serves companies that are limited in refinancing through private placements, convertible bonds, etc., or listed companies with high debt ratios that are experiencing short-term funding tightness due to company development.

"Equity investments in subsidiaries can optimize the assets of listed companies. The listed companies will provide buyback agreements to form a closed loop, and financial institutions can thus bind the needs of listed companies to provide comprehensive financial services," the insider noted.

This also reflects the balance that joint-stock banks' AICs are trying to maintain in their initial stages—

Bank funds inherently dislike risk, while the primary market is essentially about managing risk. The "closed-loop strategy" not only avoids the catastrophic risks of early projects but also completes the harvesting of quality existing assets in the gaps where private placements are restricted.

However, the aforementioned consulting firm insider also pointed out, "This strategy still revolves around mature enterprises, and it is not really about 'investing early and investing small'; it may miss opportunities during the growth phase."

How Many Contenders Are There?

As three joint-stock banks begin to "fire the starting gun," the expansion tide of AICs has become irreversible;

According to industry sources, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and China Everbright Bank both have intentions to establish AICs.

As a joint-stock bank headquartered in Shanghai, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is backed by the high-tech innovation hub of the Yangtze River Delta and has the accumulation of Shanghai Technology Innovation Bank (formerly Shanghai Pudong Silicon Valley Bank), giving it a first-mover advantage in investment-loan linkage and risk identification for technology innovation enterprises.

As early as 2020, the board of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank passed a proposal to invest 10 billion yuan to initiate the establishment of an AIC, although at that time, the AIC's business was still focused on debt-to-equity swaps to reduce leverage within the system.

In recent years, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has explored more in the equity investment business.

For example, it developed "Pudong Loan" aimed at early-stage hard technology enterprises, adopting a "loan + external direct investment" model, where Shanghai Pudong Development Bank provides credit support based on the investment amount of quality equity investment institutions at a certain proportion; In cross-border business, it has led the syndicated loans for the privatization of several well-known Chinese concept stocks such as WuXi AppTec, and introduced investment platforms within the group like Pudong Development Bank International to participate in overseas direct investment.

In addition, Pudong Development Bank also has a Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Bank that focuses on serving technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises;

With its accumulated advantages, if Pudong Development Bank establishes an AIC in the future, its strategy may lean towards early incubation of hard technology, seeking alpha in Shanghai's advantageous industries such as semiconductors and biomedicine.

Everbright Bank also has considerable practice in the equity investment field, with its wealth management subsidiary and overseas subsidiaries involved in related businesses, especially achieving significant results in the "investment-loan linkage" collaborative model.

For example, Everbright Wealth Management is at the forefront of exploring equity options, where the parent bank first provides loans to technology innovation enterprises and obtains the option for equity investment at a specific future time through an agreement.

In 2023, Everbright Wealth Management registered its first batch of equity option projects at the Beijing Equity Exchange Center, and the following year became the first bank wealth management subsidiary to carry out equity option registration and custody at the Shanghai comprehensive service pilot platform for equity options;

Its pioneering "Sunshine Zixinxiang" series of private placements has embedded equity option projects, directing funds towards "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" enterprises.

As of the end of November 2025, Everbright Wealth Management has signed equity option cooperation agreements with over 280 technology innovation enterprises;

By mid-2024, Everbright International revealed that the company has participated as an equity investment institution in the first "bank-securities investment collaboration" equity option project within the system, participating in the equity financing of Jumping New Energy.

If the AIC license is implemented in the future, Everbright Bank will also welcome greater space to "show its skills" in equity investment.

With more and more joint-stock banks entering, by the already arrived 2026, more "bank-related" funds may flow into the "long-awaited rain" primary market;

However, whether the funds brought by bank AIC can truly evolve from "bank-related" to "patient capital" remains to be seen over time