China’s “big four” state-run banks are the largest in the world in terms of asset scale, reports the South China Morning Post. This underscores Beijing’s rising ambitions to build the country into a global financial powerhouse.

The ranking released by The Banker magazine on Wednesday was topped by the four Chinese banks–Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China–with JPMorgan Chase following in fifth place.

In total, Chinese banks made up seven of the top ten in the ranking, which lists global banks in terms of tier-one capital size. All seven of them are controlled by the Chinese government.

China’s top auditor has accused one of the country’s biggest state-owned banks of exploiting investment fund structures to evade billions of RMB in taxes, reports the South China Morning Post. This comes as Beijing steps up efforts to strengthen financial compliance.

Bank of China evaded RMB 2.37 billion yuan ($348 million) in taxes by misusing preferential treatment intended for publicly offered mutual funds between April 2023 and August 2025, according to the National Audit Office’s annual report.

The bank channelled investments through two affiliated financial institutions and recruited large numbers of employees as nominal investors, each contributing between RMB 1 and RMB 100, to disguise 11 privately offered funds as public ones, the report said.

China’s bank wealth management products (WMP) have shrunk by RMB 1.38 trillion ($200 billion) in the first quarter, reports Caixin. This comes as banks prioritized deposit growth and market volatility weighed on flows. 

Bank WMP balances fell to RMB 31.91 trillion at the end of March from the end of last year, according to data from China Wealth (Asset) Management Registry and Custody, though still up 9.5% from a year earlier. The firm is a state-owned industry registry.

Despite signs of a rebound in April, asset allocation for WMPs remains a challenge. Falling short-term bond yields and deposit rate cuts have constrained returns, leaving managers with limited higher-yielding assets, industry insiders say.

Vietnamese lender SHB and China’s Huawei Technologies Group signed a ​strategic cooperation agreement on Sunday, reports Reuters citing SHB. The move will allow the Chinese technology giant to expand its presence ​in Vietnam.

Under the agreement, Huawei will support SHB in designing technology architectures and building data platforms. It will also support the bank in ensuring stable and safe operations, the bank said in a statement. 

Chinese household borrowing posted a record drop in February, reports Caixin. Household loans fell by RMB 650.7 billion ($94 billion) during the month, the largest contraction on record, according to data released Friday by the People’s Bank of China.

Total social financing (TSF)—a broad measure of credit and liquidity in the economy—increased by RMB2.38 trillion in February, exceeding economists’ average forecast of RMB 1.86 trillion in a Caixin survey. New yuan loans reached RMB 900 billion, slightly below expectations.

The drop in household borrowing was broad-based. Short-term consumer loans fell by RMB 469.3 billion, while medium- to long-term loans, a proxy for mortgages, declined by RMB 181.5 billion.