Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd

Several banks recently announced caps on the overall financing costs of personal loans. State-owned large banks, joint-stock banks, city commercial banks, and rural commercial banks show an overall stepwise increase but with internal divergence. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank all have an annualized rate cap of 6% for personal consumer loans and business loans, while Postal Savings Bank of China and Bank of Communications set the cap at 12%. Among joint-stock banks, China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank, and several others cap their self-operated consumer loans at 12%, Ping An Bank reaches 18.5%, and China Bohai Bank and Evergrowing Bank go up to 24%. For business loans, China Everbright Bank caps at 8%, Huaxia Bank at 10%, Ping An Bank at 20%, and China Bohai Bank at four times the loan prime rate. Among city commercial banks, Qilu Bank, Bank of Jilin, and Qishang Bank set the overall financing cost cap at 18%, while Bank of Chengdu caps self-operated consumer loans and business loans at just 7%. Rural commercial banks show clear divergence: Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank, Shunde Rural Commercial Bank, and Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank cap consumer loans at 12%, Xiamen Rural Commercial Bank and Zijin Bank go as high as 24%, and Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank also sets a 10% cap for loans to farmers. The cap for cooperative internet loans is generally 24%. These caps take effect from August 1, 2026, and all represent the rate ceiling under normal repayment conditions. Su Xiaorui, senior researcher at Suxi Zhiyan, said that the rate caps correspond to different bank customer segments, and transparent disclosure with tiered stratification is an important sign of a maturing credit market.

China is pushing ahead with a major reform of its gold market, as major commercial banks including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Postal Savings Bank of China, and Ping An Bank have announced the permanent termination of paper gold and gold derivative trading services for retail investors, with all positions required to be closed by 24 July 2026. If investors fail to act, the banks will forcibly close positions and transfer the cash back to their accounts. This measure applies only to retail investors, while institutional investors can continue trading through the Shanghai Gold Exchange as normal. TISCO Wealth Advisory stated that the main goal is to protect retail investors, reduce systemic financial risk, and encourage holdings of physical gold. It estimates that gold demand will not decline, but more funds will flow into physical bars and ETFs. It also sees a chance for gold prices to rise back above 4,500 US dollars per ounce if economic factors and geopolitical risks remain supportive.

ChangXin Memory Technologies closed its first day of trading on the STAR Market with a market capitalization of 3.28 trillion yuan, surpassing Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to become the most valuable company on the A-share market. The stock was issued at 8.66 yuan per share, opened sharply higher at 49.50 yuan, hit an intraday high of 55.03 yuan, and eventually closed at 49 yuan, a single-day surge of 465.82 percent. Full-day turnover reached approximately 141.2 billion yuan, with a turnover rate of 66.40 percent. ChangXin Memory Technologies is a leading domestic manufacturer of DRAM memory chips. It turned profitable for the first time in 2025, and in the first quarter of 2026 it posted revenue of 50.8 billion yuan and net profit attributable to the parent company of 24.762 billion yuan, benefiting from the explosive demand for AI computing power and a global DRAM super cycle. By sales volume, ChangXin Memory Technologies has become the world's fourth-largest DRAM maker. The IPO raised approximately 57.919 billion yuan, setting a record for the largest IPO in the history of the STAR Market.

Chinese authorities have issued an order prohibiting retail investors from conducting paper gold transactions through major commercial banks such as ICBC and Ping An Bank, stating that such margin-based trading is too risky and involves no physical delivery of gold, which could affect financial stability if gold prices fluctuate sharply. However, China still allows retail investors to save gold for future physical redemption, invest in gold mutual funds backed by physical gold, and permits institutional investors to trade normally in the futures market. Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China continues to purchase gold for its international reserves, leading to a likely increase in global physical gold demand.

The Henan branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was fined 500,000 yuan by the Henan office of the National Financial Regulatory Administration for inadequate internal control management. The penalty decision was announced on July 10.

Central banks have accumulated an average of 1,000 tons of gold over the past four years, up significantly from the 500-ton average over the preceding decade, while 74% expect lower US dollar holdings within global reserves over the next five years. China Construction Bank is closing its customer trading facilities for gold and silver on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after July 24th, and ICBC made a similar announcement for the same date. CME December 2026 gold call options show 30,021 open interest at the $20,000 strike, though a tripling or quadrupling within six months would be extraordinary.

Some major Chinese banks are shutting down services that aid retail trading in precious metals after a multiyear rally in gold and silver went into reverse. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the nation's biggest by assets, said it will stop offering intermediary services for individuals to trade precious metals on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after settlement on July 24, advising existing clients to sell or close their positions before then. China Guangfa Bank asked clients to close their precious metals positions before 3:30 p.m. Hong Kong time on Thursday or face forced liquidation by the end of the month, though investors can still put money into gold accumulation products or exchange-traded funds that track precious metals. Both banks cited risk management for the closures, which covered trading in both spot and deferred delivery contracts, following similar announcements by Postal Savings Bank of China and Ping An Bank earlier this year. Spot gold fell below $4,000 an ounce this week, extending its retreat from a record high of nearly $5,600 in January, as the rally unraveled after the outbreak of the US-Iran war stoked inflation fears and reinforced expectations that interest rates would remain elevated.