China Construction Bank’s interim report in 2019 was all about inclusivity. Chairman Tian Guoli and vice-chairman Liu Guiping directed investor attention toward a new strategy designed to position the bank as a bastion of sustainability. At the heart of it were home leasing, inclusive finance and fintech.
The headline act was Yunongtong, a new service aimed at accelerating rural financial reform, with the aim of creating what CCB describes as “smart rural areas”.
This year, inclusivity took a back seat to the pandemic. CCB’s interim report in 2020 was headlined, with a somewhat military flourish, ‘Fighting against the pandemic [and] supporting economic and social development’.
The bank then made clear why it exists – to fulfil “its responsibility as a major state-owned bank by earnestly implementing government policies.”
Financial coherence
Covid forced China Construction Bank and its peers to act fast. This wasn’t a carbon copy of the Lehman Brothers crisis – the government didn’t instruct state lenders to explode their balance sheets and they didn’t offer to.
Twelve
