The Chinese government in March 2026 announced plans to issue 300 billion Chinese yuan in special government bonds to recapitalize Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. That followed a 520 billion yuan capital injection into four other state-owned banks in 2025 to reinforce their role in supporting the world's second-biggest economy.

"As the primary liquidity conduit for fiscal stimulus [for the economy], state-owned banks increased their financial investments by 19% in 2025," Iris Tan, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told Market Intelligence on April 16. This was "fueled by a record 28% surge in government bond issuance."

For the latest ranking, company assets were adjusted on a best-efforts basis for pending mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as M&A deals that closed after the end of the period. To be eligible for inclusion in pro forma adjustments, the amount of assets being transferred had to be at least $2 billion, unless otherwise noted. Assets reported by non-US-dollar filers were converted to dollars using period-end exchange rates. Total assets were taken on an "as-reported" basis, and no adjustments were made to account for differing accounting standards. The majority of banks were ranked by total assets as of Dec. 31, 2025. In the previous ranking, published April 10, 2025, most company assets were as of Dec. 31, 2024, and were adjusted for pending and completed M&A as of April 4, 2025.

Big bank theory

Chinese megabanks remain central to a predominantly bank-led financial system. China structurally channels household savings, pensions and corporate liquidity into banks, rather than capital markets, providing lenders with a large and stable funding base.

This allows banks to direct credit to priority sectors designated by the government, resulting in persistently large and expanding asset books.

"As the country’s financial market continues to open up and grow, more and more enterprises and residents are in need of diverse, personalized financial services," KPMG said in a January 2026 report. "Against this backdrop, banks that are at the center of the financial system have seen their asset portfolios expanding."

Bank credit growth has moderated since the COVID-19 pandemic, as weaker private sector demand weighs on lending. In response, state-owned lenders have pivoted to strategic areas such as technology, green finance, inclusive finance and fintech infrastructure, establishing these as key growth pillars.

"These segments delivered 12%–28% growth, cushioning the anemic credit demand from the private sector," Morningstar's Tan said.

The capital infusion has provided additional balance sheet capacity, enabling banks to support government-led initiatives even as margins remain under pressure in a low interest rate environment.

"The capital injection will help the megabanks solidify their capital buffer amid profit pressure," S&P Global Ratings analyst Xi Cheng said in a March note. "The injection will mitigate pressure from weakening internal capital generation."

Agricultural Bank of China reported a 17.7% increase in assets to $6,974.82 billion at the end of 2025. China Construction Bank Corp. posted a 17.4% rise to $6,524.05 billion, according to Market Intelligence data. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's assets grew 14.3% to $7,645.80 billion, cementing its position as the world's largest bank.

Singapore inflows

All three Singaporean banks on the list also posted double-digit asset growth, supported by strong deposit inflows.

"This was mainly driven by ample liquidity flow into Singapore given its safe-haven image amid geopolitical uncertainties," said Kathy Chan, equity analyst at Morningstar. Funds from maturing treasury bills also flowed into deposits as interest rates declined, Chan said.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Singapore's largest bank, held its position after reporting about 15% growth in assets to $697.77 billion. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd. rose four rungs to 31st with $525.32 billion in assets, an increase of 14.7% over the previous year.

Lean moves for Japan, India

Banks in Japan and India saw limited movement on the rankings, with most lenders either holding their positions or slipping slightly as asset growth moderated.

Among Japanese lenders, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. slipped one place to sixth after posting modest 1.5% asset growth to $2,666.71 billion. The other two megabanks maintained their positions on the leaderboard, supported by low single-digit growth.

An aging population and subdued credit demand continue to weigh on lending growth in Japan, keeping balance sheet expansion gradual.

In India, credit growth slowed in 2025 after the banking regulator tightened regulations on unsecured retail lending. Asset values were further affected by currency weakness, with the rupee among the worst-performing major currencies in the region, depreciating about 5% against the US dollar.

State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, maintained its 19th position with 3.6% asset growth to $877.07 billion, while HDFC Bank Ltd. slipped two places to 35th.