Official data from the Securities Association of China shows that 150 securities firms generated total revenue of 329.81 billion yuan and net profits of 138.66 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, with the ongoing wave of industry mergers reshaping the competitive landscape.
CITIC Securities and Guotai Haitong together contributed 96.9 billion yuan in revenue, representing 29.38% of the industry total, while their combined net profits of 44.9 billion yuan accounted for 32.4%. The top ten revenue-generating firms captured 75.23% of total industry revenue, the top ten by net profit held 83.37%, and the top ten by asset scale accounted for 74%.
In stark contrast to the robust growth of leading players, several mid-sized and smaller brokers faced earnings pressure. Hualin Securities recorded net profits of 258 million yuan in the first half, down 23.32% year-on-year, with proprietary trading revenue falling 58% from the same period last year. Hongta Securities posted net profits of 510 million yuan, a 23.93% decline, driven by shrinking fair value gains. While Great Wall Securities, Guosheng Securities, and Cinda Securities maintained positive growth, their expansion rates remained modest.
Looking ahead, Guosen Securities expects the industry's strong performance to persist, with the primary driver being structural optimization and model transformation in proprietary investment operations. Leading firms are increasing the proportion of financial assets held in OCI accounts to smooth out cyclical fluctuations in investment returns, while also diversifying strategies through bond long-short trading, quantitative neutral approaches, and derivatives arbitrage. This shift moves proprietary trading away from directional speculation toward active management, reducing reliance on single market trends and establishing more resilient profit models that enhance stability and sustainability.
On the transformation front, wealth management and cross-border operations have emerged as new growth pillars for high-quality development, with fintech playing an increasingly prominent role. Wealth management divisions are strengthening FOF and "fixed-income plus" strategy construction, reinforcing buyer-side advisory models, and upgrading professional asset allocation capabilities to meet rising demand from resident wealth allocation. Cross-border businesses are pursuing investment-banking-led global expansion, continuously unlocking synergies and opening up long-term growth potential. Fintech initiatives centered on AI are boosting application-layer R&D investment, driving organizational and business model restructuring to build core competitive moats.
Overall, clear trends point toward industry consolidation, specialized operations, and deeper transformation. Leading brokers continue to outpace the market through comprehensive competitive advantages, positioning the sector for sustained high-quality development.