China's 42 A-share listed banks posted a combined operating revenue of 4.66 trillion yuan (about 700 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of 2026, up 7.8 percent year on year, according to third-quarter reports fully released by Friday.
Their combined net profit reached 1.75 trillion yuan in the period, up 3.8 percent from a year earlier.
Among the 42 banks, 37 reported year-on-year revenue growth, 11 of them at a double-digit pace, while 34 lifted their net profit, pointing to broad-based strength across the sector.
Of the 36 banks that disclosed net interest margins, the average stood at 1.55 percent, with 18 reporting margins that either rose or held steady from a year earlier.
Analysts attributed the sector's improving profitability to easing funding costs, steady asset quality and gains from investment portfolios working in tandem.
"As high-cost deposits gradually mature this year, and as banks actively manage their asset-liability structure, funding costs are declining and offsetting pricing pressure on the asset side. Asset quality remains stable, with non-performing and overdue loan ratios effectively controlled and credit costs generally stable. By realizing gains from bond investments, banks have effectively bolstered their non-interest income," said Lin Yingqi, a banking analyst at China International Capital Corporation (CICC).
Meanwhile, China's six largest state-owned commercial banks sustained the positive trend in the first half of the year, reporting growth in both revenue and net profit in the first three quarters.
Their combined revenue rose 9.4 percent year on year to 2.98 trillion yuan, while combined net profit climbed 6.1 percent to 1.14 trillion yuan.
The six lenders kept overall credit expanding at a steady pace while channeling more lending into priority areas, including technology, green development, inclusive finance and the private sector.
China's listed banks report rapid revenue growth in first three quarters
As the main event of the inaugural China Media Group (CMG) World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition is fast approaching, participating teams are making their final preparations in Tai'an City, east China's Shandong Province, with robots and engineers taking on one of the mountain's most demanding real-world tests.
Before the main event, CMG held a qualifier on Monday, featuring four events -- legged robot racing, legged robot load-bearing, all-terrain scouting, and humanoid robot racing -- all starting from Hongmen Square at Mount Tai, with different landmarks on the mountain set as finish lines for different events.
The course consists mainly of continuous stone steps, slopes, and curves, putting the robots' perception and decision-making, balance control, and endurance to the test.
The qualifier not only determined starting position for the main event, but also provided opportunities for teams to test their robots' core capabilities in a real mountain environment. As rainy weather coincided with the qualifier, slippery stone steps, combined with Mount Tai's complex terrain, left many robots stumbling.
After the qualifier, engineers are making final adjustments to their robots for better performances at the main event.
"What we are doing now is improving the running speed of this robot dog. We need to measure its optimal speed on flat roads and its optimal speed when climbing slopes," said Zhang Qi, project manager at MirrorMe Technology, a Shanghai-based robotics startup.
The hardest section of the entire course lies near Zhongtian Gate, where the slope is extremely steep and poses a great challenge to the robots' overall abilities.
"Unlike the standardized steps, which are smooth and complete, the height and narrowness of the steps vary here. So, on this kind of slope, we use a special stair mode to lower the robot's center of gravity relative to the ground, and its mechanical arms sinks slightly," said Yu Hanxiang, a technical developer with the Taishan University team.
Many robots got scratches of varying depths during training and tests. Teams said that these scratches mark the hard knocks they have taken alongside their human teammates. For the participants, encountering and conquering difficulties has become routine.
"As long as it stays functional, we will keep testing. If it falls again, we will test again," said Mei Shaochen, an automation student from the Southern University of Science and Technology.
Team members follow the robots along the route and conduct on-site debugging during the day, then review data and optimize algorithms at night. Late-night debugging scenes involving robots and team members are common on the mountain paths and at rest areas. For the teams, the work is not only a rehearsal for the competition but also a trial for robots entering the real world.
The first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition will take place officially on Nov 2.
Robot training in full swing for first CMG World Robot Mount Tai Climbing Competition
