Major Move! Postal Savings Bank's Billion-Yuan-Level AIC Approved for Operation, Bank-Affiliated "Patient Capital" Faces Super Expansion

With a notice from Postal Savings Bank of China, a new AIC—China Post Investment—holding hundreds of billions in funds—has officially announced its entry.

On March 20, 2026, Postal Savings Bank of China issued a notice that its wholly owned China Post Financial Asset Investment Co., Ltd. (referred to as “China Post Investment”) has officially received approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission to commence operations, with a registered capital of up to 10 billion RMB, and is based in Beijing.

This entry of a 10-billion-level AIC marks a key addition to the state-owned major bank’s comprehensive financial service landscape.

Strategic Mission of the 10-Billion-Level AIC

According to the bank’s announcement, the approval and opening of China Post Financial Asset Investment Co., Ltd. reveal a high strategic standard and clear business orientation.

With a registered capital of 10 billion RMB and based in Beijing, China Post Investment’s substantial capital demonstrates Postal Savings Bank’s strong emphasis on this business sector, providing ample resources for large-scale market-oriented debt-to-equity swaps and equity investments in the future.

The announcement explicitly states that China Post Investment is an important measure in response to national calls and to serve the construction of a strong technological nation. As a key part of the bank’s integrated service strategy, China Post Investment is an important platform for implementing the bank’s “Five Major Articles” of financial development. This means China Post Investment is not merely profit-driven capital but a driver of industry with a national strategic mission.

The announcement further mentions that China Post Investment will focus on serving the real economy, conducting pilot projects in market-oriented debt-to-equity swaps and equity investments, supporting technological innovation and private enterprises, helping develop new productive forces, improving service quality and efficiency for the real economy, and promoting the bank’s high-quality development.

For Postal Savings Bank, the opening of China Post Investment fills a crucial gap in its “comprehensive service strategy.” Leveraging its extensive network of branches across urban and rural areas and its large retail and corporate client base, China Post Investment is expected to facilitate the “investment-loan linkage,” creating an ecosystem of “investment promoting loans and loans supporting investments.”

Expansion of AIC Since 2025

The launch of China Post Investment is not an isolated event but a reflection of the accelerated expansion and functional transformation of AICs in China’s banking industry since 2025. The banking sector’s AICs are entering their second major opportunity period in history.

Since 2025, the expansion of AIC licenses has become a hot topic in banking.

Previously, the Big Five banks—ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, and BOCOM—had already established AICs. Now, with Postal Savings Bank’s China Post Investment stepping in, the “family portrait” of the six major state-owned banks in the AIC field is complete. These large banks’ AICs have jointly established tech innovation funds worth hundreds of billions in collaboration with local government guidance funds since 2025.

“Joint-stock banks” are also accelerating their involvement. Seeing the significant advantages of “investment-loan linkage” held by large banks, since 2025, many leading joint-stock banks such as China Merchants Bank, CITIC Bank, and Industrial Bank have submitted applications to regulators to establish AICs, with some already in the final stages of preparation. The number and scale of bank-affiliated equity investment institutions are growing exponentially.

Since 2025, the expansion of AICs has been accompanied by a profound shift in investment logic. Previously, AICs mainly focused on risk resolution of existing assets; now, they are fully shifting toward “creating incremental value.” They utilize low-cost, long-term funds within the banking system to practice the philosophy of “early investment, small investment, long-term investment, hard technology.” Amidst a current fundraising winter in the primary market, bank-affiliated AICs serve as a powerful “new force,” filling the market funding gap.

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