China News Service, Beijing, September 6 (Tao Siyue) Eight central financial enterprises announced capital increase plans on the 6th, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Export-Import Bank of China, China Life, China Taiping, PICC, China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation and China Reinsurance.
According to public information, the eight institutions received a total of 360 billion yuan (RMB, the same below) in various capital supplements this time. Among them, China’s Ministry of Finance directly contributed a total of 300 billion yuan. This round of capital injection covers banks and insurance institutions to supplement capital strength in a targeted manner.
On the banking side, two large state-owned commercial banks, ICBC and Agricultural Bank of China, have added a total of 260 billion yuan in scheduled increases. Both companies disclosed the use of the funds in their announcements: after deducting relevant issuance expenses, all the raised funds are planned to be used to supplement core tier-1 capital. At the same time, the Export-Import Bank of China, a policy bank, announced that it has received a capital injection of 30 billion yuan to enhance its capital supply capacity and risk prevention and control resilience in serving the real economy and opening up to the outside world.
On the insurance side, three insurance companies, China Life, China Taiping and PICC, received a total capital injection of 57 billion yuan from the Ministry of Finance. Policy insurance company China Sinosure received a capital injection of 10 billion yuan. China Re plans to have the Ministry of Finance subscribe for domestic shares in cash and plans to raise 3 billion yuan.
From the perspective of industry fundamentals, this round of capital injection is not an emergency measure, but a forward-looking layout. As of the end of the second quarter of 2026, the non-performing ratios of China's major state-owned banks have improved month-on-month, and the solvency of central insurance companies is also within a safe range. It can be seen that this capital injection is preventive and aims to thicken the capital buffer in advance.
Industry experts said that after the capital injection, the capital adequacy ratio of state-owned banks will be improved, which is expected to further leverage the space for credit. In addition, this will help financial institutions better play their role in counter-cyclical adjustment and provide stronger financial support in supporting the steady growth of foreign trade and serving enterprises to "go global."
For the insurance industry, Pang Ming, a member of the China Chief Economist Forum, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service that capital injection is an effective response to the capital consumption caused by the deepening transformation of the industry and the decline in long-term interest rates.
He said that the industry's deepening transformation refers to the insurance industry's "five major articles" of technological finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance. For example, if insurance supports technology finance, it must focus on the national innovation-driven development strategy and launch new products such as insurance for major technical equipment and insurance for the first batch of new materials applications.
"Industry transformation involves optimizing resource allocation, upgrading business structure, and meeting new regulatory requirements for the assessment mechanism of insurance institutions. It is imperative to supplement the core capital and high-quality capital of insurance companies and improve the solvency adequacy ratio," Pang Ming said.
On the other hand, falling long-term interest rates and equity allocation will consume capital, directly lower the solvency adequacy ratio of insurance companies, and restrict the business expansion of insurance companies. Capital injection can offset the above pressure.
Zhao Xijun, a professor at the School of Finance at Renmin University of China, said that the Ministry of Finance’s capital injection is the country’s fulfillment of its responsibilities as an investor, sending a clear positive signal to the market, effectively stabilizing market expectations, and providing solid support for financial institutions’ business development and risk response. (over)
