Recently, the announcement of a change in leadership at ZYBANK has captured market attention, with Zhou Feng, the former deputy secretary of the Henan provincial government, appointed as the new president, pending approval from the Henan Financial Regulatory Bureau.

The announcement also revealed the resignation of previous president Liu Kai from all positions within the bank due to work adjustments. In addition to welcoming a new president, ZYBANK appointed three vice presidents in the first half of this year: Yao Huiyuan, Liu Qingfen, and Wang Tianqi, the latter two being internally promoted with Wang Tianqi being born in 1985.

Zhou Feng and his new executive team face numerous challenges, including institutional optimization, profitability pressure, and market value management. How the new team will respond remains to be seen.

Zhou Feng's appointment as the new president of ZYBANK follows a clear trajectory; on September 25, the Henan Provincial Organization Department issued a public notice regarding the appointment of leadership positions, proposing Zhou Feng, then a deputy secretary of the Henan provincial government, for the role in an important state-owned enterprise.

Furthermore, according to a report from the Dahe Finance platform affiliated with the Henan Daily on October 15, Zhou Feng witnessed the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement between ZYBANK and China Pingmei Shenma Group on that day in his capacity as the bank’s party deputy secretary. His resume indicates that Zhou Feng was born in January 1977, having served at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's postdoctoral work station from August 2003 to August 2005. From August 2005 to April 2022, he worked at the former Henan Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, where he also served as an assistant to the director of the Finance Department of the Tibet Autonomous Region from November 2017 to January 2022. After that, he was the deputy mayor of Puyang City, Henan Province from April 2022 to May 2024, before becoming the deputy secretary of the Henan provincial government until taking on the role of president at ZYBANK.

As Zhou Feng’s predecessor, Liu Kai was approved as president of ZYBANK in January 2023. Born in March 1971, Liu Kai is considered a veteran executive of ZYBANK, having served as vice president since the bank was established in December 2014. He acted as president starting in August 2022 and was officially appointed the following January.

Prior to joining ZYBANK, Liu Kai worked within the central bank system for nearly twenty years, holding various positions including officer at the Henan branch of the central bank and director of the Zhengzhou central branch office. From November 2013 to December 2014, he was a member of the leadership team for the reform and restructuring of certain urban commercial banks in Henan Province.

Public records indicate that ZYBANK was founded in December 2014 as a provincial legal bank with a branch network covering the entire Henan Province, and it was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July 2017. In May 2022, ZYBANK officially merged with Luoyang Bank, Pingdingshan Bank, and Jiaozuo Zhonglv Bank, becoming a member of the “trillion-yuan asset urban commercial bank club,” increasing its asset scale from RMB 768.2 billion at the end of 2021 to RMB 1.33 trillion at the end of 2022, a growth of 72.7%. As of mid-year this year, ZYBANK's assets exceeded RMB 1.4 trillion, employing 18,197 people across 18 branches and 1 directly affiliated branch, with a total of 667 outlets.

The new “one president and four vice presidents” leadership structure at ZYBANK is nearly complete. Besides the new president, the bank's mid-2025 report shows the appointment of three vice presidents: Yao Huiyuan, Liu Qingfen, and Wang Tianqi, all of whom await qualification approval from the Henan Financial Regulatory Bureau.

Among them, Liu Qingfen and Wang Tianqi were internally promoted, having joined ZYBANK when it was approved for establishment in December 2014, with Wang Tianqi being born in 1985. Liu Qingfen's resume identifies him as born in March 1970, having held various positions including general manager of the bank's operation department, president of the Zhengzhou branch, and head of corporate banking. Wang Tianqi, born in February 1985, has served in various capacities including vice general manager (acting) of the investment banking department, president of multiple branches, and assistant president.

As of now, the new leadership structure at ZYBANK has taken shape, with another vice president, Zhou Litiao, born in November 1979, having served in the role since May 2018.

It is noted that in recent years the management team at ZYBANK has faced significant turmoil. The bank's first chairman, Dou Rongxing, resigned in August 2021 and was expelled from the party and public office the following June. His successor, Xu Nuo-jin, assumed the role in November 2021 but resigned in April 2023, subsequently being removed from the party in February 2024 and also expelled in July of that year.

Beyond Dou Rongxing and Xu Nuo-jin, former vice president Zhao Weihua, former vice chairman Wei Jie, and former vice monitor Jia Jihong have also faced investigations, announced in April 2022, June 2022, and February 2023, respectively.

Currently, Zhou Feng and the new executive team face several challenges, namely institutional optimization, profitability pressure, and market value management.

The first challenge is institutional optimization. A July report from the rating agency United Ratings indicated that ZYBANK’s operational management and risk control require closer monitoring. The report noted that after the completion of the merger, the bank's asset scale, total number of employees, and network of outlets have all increased, but the effectiveness of organizational adjustments still needs to be observed, along with ongoing monitoring of asset quality and provisioning coverage levels.

Regarding non-performing loans, ZYBANK's non-performing loan ratios exceeded 2% at the end of both 2023 and 2024, at 2.04% and 2.02% respectively, having been 1.93% at the end of 2022. As of mid-year this year, the bank's non-performing loan ratio was 2.01%, above the average ratio of 1.76% for domestic urban commercial banks.

The second challenge is profitability pressure. In the first half of this year, ZYBANK’s operating income and net profit attributable to shareholders both declined year-on-year, falling by 3.1% and 0.8% respectively. The mentioned rating report indicated that ZYBANK's profitability requires observation, noting a compressing net interest margin, high cost-to-income ratio, and significant credit impairment provisions, indicating a need for improvement in profitability.

The third challenge is market value management. According to previous reports from Economic Observer, ZYBANK’s stock price fell below issue price on the first day of listing, retaining an overall price above HKD 1.50/share until September 2019. However, after closing at HKD 0.99/share on December 3, 2019, the price has hovered around HKD 1.00/share for a prolonged period.

The team will continue to monitor ZYBANK's subsequent loan quality, profitability, stock price performance, and related situations.