China has significantly ramped up the pace of rural bank consolidation in the first half of 2025, nearly matching the total number of mergers seen in all of last year. The move is part of a broader strategy aimed at reducing systemic risk and improving the resilience and service quality of rural financial institutions.
According to newly released figures from the National Financial Regulatory Administration, 89 rural and township banks were merged or absorbed by other lenders between January and June 2025. This figure compares with 94 such consolidations recorded across the entirety of 2024 and just 11 the year before.
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