The capital market showed signs of gradual recovery in 2025, with the securities industry experiencing restorative growth. In December 2025, Orient Securities Company Limited announced the departure of its Chairman Gong Dexiong due to a work reassignment. Vice Chairman Lu Weiming has been acting as the interim Chairman and legal representative.
It has recently been confirmed that the new Chairman of Orient Securities will be Zhou Lei, currently a Party Committee Member and Vice President of Shanghai International Group Co., Ltd.
Zhou Lei was born in July 1978. He holds an on-the-job postgraduate degree, a Master's in Business Administration, and is a certified economist. He began his career in July 2000. His previous roles include General Manager of the Financing Arrangement Headquarters and Deputy Project Development Director at Shanghai International Group Asset Management Co., Ltd.; Vice President, Head of Risk Control and Compliance, General Manager, and Director of Shanghai AJ Trust & Investment Co., Ltd.; Vice General Manager, General Manager, Vice Chairman, and Chairman of Shanghai State-owned Assets Operation Co., Ltd.; and Investment Director of Shanghai International Group Co., Ltd.
In September 2019, he was appointed Vice President of Shanghai International Group Co., Ltd., concurrently serving as Chairman of Shanghai International Group (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. and Director of Shanghai Exchange Group Co., Ltd. In October 2025, he was nominated as a candidate for non-executive director of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd.
Alongside management changes, on the business front, Orient Securities capitalized on the market recovery window in 2025, leading to a full release of its earnings potential. According to the company's official earnings forecast, it expects to achieve operating revenue of 153.4 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 26.0%. Net profit attributable to shareholders is projected to be 56.2 billion yuan, a significant surge of 67.8% year-on-year. For the first three quarters, the company had already achieved a net profit of 51.1 billion yuan.
From an industry perspective, Orient Securities' development path in 2025 has avoided the comprehensive competition model of top-tier securities firms, instead carving out a distinctive breakout strategy. Its growth logic emphasizes quality over scale, with high earnings growth stemming from business structure optimization and enhanced profitability, coupled with stable dividends, leading to continuously improving shareholder returns.
In 2025, Orient Securities ensured strategic continuity through stable personnel arrangements, realized its growth potential through business recovery, and secured its industry position through a specialized focus. However, amidst the industry's high-quality development trend, the company also faces challenges such as improving the quality of its investment banking business and addressing specific compliance gaps.
The year 2025 is a pivotal one for China's capital market, marked by the resonance of deepening reforms and industry recovery. The comprehensive registration-based IPO system reform continues to advance, investment and financing activity in sectors related to new quality productive forces has significantly increased, A-share trading volume and margin lending规模 have steadily recovered, and financing activities in both the primary equity and bond markets have rebounded, opening up space for restorative growth in the securities industry.
Using the new classified evaluation rules as a lever, regulators are guiding the industry to shift from scale expansion to prioritizing quality and being function-oriented. Compliance, risk control, professional capability, and differentiated development have become the core competitive logic. The industry landscape is accelerating its differentiation, with top-tier firms focusing on building comprehensive first-class investment banks, while medium-sized securities firms are leveraging their resource advantages to deepen their presence in specialized niches. Wealth management, industrial investment banking, institutional trading, digitalization, and ESG development have become common transformation directions for the entire industry.
Against this backdrop, how Orient Securities can continue to sustain and release long-term value, providing a practical reference model for the transformation and upgrading of medium-sized securities firms, will be a key task for the new leadership team.