On May 18th, at the 2026 Beijing Listed Companies High-Quality Development Conference and Investment & Financing M&A Matchmaking Event, ICBC President Liu Jun stated that the current connotation of mergers and acquisitions is richer than ever, placing higher demands on the professionalism, comprehensiveness, and foresight of financial services. Standing at the new starting point of its 20th anniversary as a listed company, ICBC will focus on three key areas to drive the M&A market and support the high-quality development of listed companies: building a "T-shaped" or even "π-shaped" investment philosophy, reconstructing the valuation and due diligence system, and introducing diverse funding sources.

First, build a "T-shaped" or even "π-shaped" investment philosophy. Liu Jun noted that traditional M&A categorizes investments into industrial, financial, and strategic investments, but these boundaries have now blurred, and investor classifications have become less distinct. Pure financial investment is no longer sustainable. Matrix-style M&A, which integrates across industries with a systematic approach, will become the norm. This requires deep vertical exploration of industries and a broad horizontal grasp of the overall landscape, transforming M&A investments into value investments.

Second, reconstruct the valuation and due diligence system. "In the AI era, valuation is no longer just about revenue multiples; it also depends on talent depth and model performance. The importance of technical due diligence is no less than that of financial due diligence," Liu Jun said. Banks must enhance their pricing capabilities for "people" and "technology," incorporating floating factors such as core teams, key talent, technical architecture, and data capabilities alongside traditional financial analysis. It is also essential to distinguish between financing valuation and actual transaction value, avoid being led by high-valuation rounds, and accurately identify the sources of sustainable value creation.

Third, introduce diverse funding sources. Liu Jun explained that commercial banks, like ICBC, earn relatively stable returns by assuming limited risks, which is fundamentally different from the high-risk, high-return models of PE and VC institutions. Based on this, on one hand, it is crucial to steadfastly promote high-level openness in the capital markets, attracting domestic and international institutional and professional investors to gather more diverse experiences, resources, and practices. On the other hand, there should be a continuous effort to attract long-term capital, such as insurance funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and large asset management companies, to provide diversified support for the M&A cooperation ecosystem.