As of December 8th, a total of 377 banks in China have been deregistered this year due to mergers or dissolution. At the same time, over 9000 bank branches have been closed, showing a more than 200% increase compared to the same period last year. This news has become a hot topic in the online search.
According to a report by “First Financial” on December 8th, statistics from Corporate Early Warning Information show that as of December 8th, 377 banks have been deregistered due to mergers or dissolution this year, compared to over 190 during the same period last year. Among these, village banks accounted for the highest number of deregistrations, reaching 218, which is nearly 60% of the total; rural commercial banks and credit cooperatives have deregistered 79 and 70 banks respectively. The reduced number of banks and branches is concentrated in Inner Mongolia (139 banks), with over 20 banks dissolved and deregistered in Sichuan, Shandong, and Henan. Rural commercial banks have become the most closed type of bank.
Additionally, as of December 8th, a total of 9661 bank branches have exited the market, representing a growth of over 200% compared to the full year of 2024. Among these, rural commercial bank branches saw the highest number of exits at 5400; large state-owned banks closed 962 branches; while city commercial banks and joint-stock banks saw relatively fewer closures.
The report indicates that risk mitigation is the primary reason for bank closures. According to the “2024 China Financial Stability Report,” there are 357 high-risk banks in China, mainly concentrated in small and medium-sized banks such as rural cooperative banks and village banks.
Furthermore, an executive of a bank’s technology department in South China analyzed to “First Financial” that now, “over 80% of daily transactions, from transfers and bill payments to wealth management and loan applications, can be completed on mobile phones or online, reducing the need for physical bank visits.” Meanwhile, for a typical branch, including rent, utilities, equipment maintenance, and staff salaries, it costs nearly tens of millions of Chinese yuan annually, whereas the cost of online services is only about one-tenth of offline costs. Therefore, cost pressure is also a significant reason for the closure of bank branches.