Five Years of High-Quality Development | China Merchants Group: Accelerating the "Third Entrepreneurship"
This year marks the conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan. To showcase the achievements of central enterprises in fully implementing the new development philosophy, achieving high-quality development, enhancing technological innovation capabilities, solidly promoting layout optimization and structural adjustment, and deeply implementing the action plan for deepening and upgrading state-owned enterprise reform, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) recently launched a series of reports entitled "Five Years of High-Quality Development," and recently released "China Merchants Group: Accelerating the 'Third Entrepreneurship'," introducing the solid steps China Merchants Group has taken on the path of high-quality development since the 14th Five-Year Plan. The full text is forwarded below:
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, facing a complex and ever-changing internal and external environment, China Merchants Group has adhered to the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability and upholding integrity while innovating, comprehensively accelerating the "Third Entrepreneurship," and taking solid steps on the path of high-quality development, achieving five transformations: a shift towards a new development stage, a shift towards a more optimized business layout, a shift towards practical innovation-driven development, a shift towards stronger functional support, and a shift towards stricter risk prevention.
It is projected that by the end of 2025, China Merchants Group's total assets will reach approximately RMB 15.6 trillion. Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, its ROE attributable to shareholders has consistently remained above 10%, achieving comprehensive breakthroughs in transportation and logistics, integrated finance, real estate parks, and science and technology innovation industries. China Merchants Group has been rated A-level in the performance evaluation of central state-owned enterprise leaders for 21 consecutive years, and has been awarded "Excellent Performance Enterprise" for seven consecutive terms. From 2022 to 2024, it ranked first among central state-owned enterprises in performance evaluation, and its board of directors has received an excellent rating for nine consecutive years. The quality of its state-owned capital investment company and financial holding company has continued to improve.
China Merchants Group scientifically analyzes new trends in the technological revolution, accurately grasps the characteristics of its development stage, and has made strategic deployments focused on technological innovation. It has clarified the overall strategic direction of "123," anchored its goal of becoming a world-class enterprise, and is building two curves: the "smile curve" and the "Malik curve," comprehensively accelerating its "third entrepreneurial endeavor" and forging a correct path of high-quality development led by strategic transformation.
China Merchants Group's Lion Rock Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Over the past five years, China Merchants Group has solidified its foundation for high-quality development, achieved breakthroughs in multiple areas of technological innovation, accelerated the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and expedited the layout of strategic emerging industries, realizing effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth. Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the Group's cumulative R&D investment has reached 89.3 billion yuan, nearly doubling that of the 13th Five-Year Plan, with the number of new patents increasing 3.8 times that of the 13th Five-Year Plan, and winning two second-class National Science and Technology Progress Awards. China Merchants Group has established a Chief Scientist Committee, set up the Advanced Technology Research Institute and the Lion Rock Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and established joint laboratories for micro-nano surgical robots, perovskite semiconductor new materials, and other fields. The Advanced Technology Research Institute has successfully connected with more than 50 key cutting-edge technology projects, with five projects entering substantive research phases. The Lion Rock Artificial Intelligence Laboratory has achieved breakthroughs in areas such as quadruped robots and multimodal algorithms.
China Merchants Group fully leverages its comprehensive advantages in "technology-industry-finance" to promote the large-scale development and systematic construction of strategic emerging industries. The China Merchants Innovation Technology Group was established as a key platform for the Group's development of strategic emerging industries and cultivation of future industries. Focusing on three major directions—digital intelligence, life sciences, and green technology—it steadily promotes the implementation of a three-in-one model of "research + investment + operation." The Group will increase investment and acquisition efforts, seizing development opportunities in sub-sectors such as biomanufacturing, biomedicine, high-end shipbuilding, testing and inspection, and androids. It is projected that by the end of 2025, the total assets and annual revenue of the science and technology innovation industry will be 2.92 times and 2.76 times those at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, respectively.
China Merchants Group is accelerating the transformation of its growth model from "quantity to quality" and its business structure from "heavy" to "light," firmly adhering to an intrinsic development path driven by innovation, model upgrading, and value creation.
A strategic investment was made in Cathay Biotech to accelerate the layout of the biomanufacturing industry. (The image shows Cathay Biotech's Shanxi Synthetic Biology Industrial Park.)
The financial sector maintains a steady development trend, focusing on "five major tasks" to resolutely serve the construction of a strong financial nation. China Merchants Bank is committed to building a leading value-creating bank driven by innovation, with a pioneering model and distinctive characteristics. It continuously enhances its core competitiveness and capital operation capabilities, achieving a total market capitalization exceeding one trillion yuan. China Merchants Renhe Life Insurance continues its value-oriented transformation, achieving sustainable and healthy development, a reasonable and appropriate scale, and sufficient and safe capital.
China Merchants Group adheres to the concept of high-quality development, vigorously promoting the resolute withdrawal of its subsidiaries from non-core and non-advantageous businesses. It reforms and withdraws from unnecessary diversification, focusing its advantageous resources on its core businesses and strategic emerging industries. Simultaneously, it continuously promotes a "two-pronged approach" of internal collaboration and external cooperation, effectively building a collaborative empowerment platform; continuously deepening internal collaboration in areas such as "sci-tech industry scenario order support" and "property purchase and leasing"; and strengthening strategic cooperation with other central enterprises, renowned universities, and outstanding private enterprises. It also continues to expand cooperation with regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, achieving synergistic growth through collaborative work.
In terms of the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and digital empowerment, China Merchants Group has achieved remarkable results at all levels. China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry has proactively positioned itself in the manufacturing of high-end ships, including large LNG carriers, achieving steady development and sustained profitability. China Merchants Cloud has been recognized as a "Transportation and Logistics Industry Cloud," and its "AI + Logistics" model "Shangdao" and "AI + Finance" model "Yizhao" have been implemented in 227 application scenarios. China Merchants Shipping has developed the "ShipQ Carbon Intelligence" integrated ship energy management platform, promoting the green transformation of the shipping industry.
In November 2025, the first 180,000 cubic meter LNG carrier built by China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry departed the dock for sea trials.
China Merchants Group adheres to green and low-carbon development. Since the "14th Five-Year Plan," it has invested over 3.6 billion yuan in energy conservation and environmental protection, building a distributed photovoltaic installed capacity of 215MW, generating 138 million kWh of electricity in 2024. In the green port sector, it has achieved "coal-free" energy consumption, with new energy trucks accounting for 64% of the fleet, and 95% of container terminal cranes converted from oil to electricity. In the green shipping sector, the company jointly developed the first and second generations of intelligent rigid airfoil sails. After application, these sails achieved an average annual fuel saving of over 7.4% per vessel and reduced carbon emissions by more than 2,200 tons, with comprehensive performance indicators reaching world-leading levels. In the green real estate sector, the proportion of green and clean energy applications in newly built self-owned commercial and office projects reached 100%. A total of 549 green buildings with a total area of 78.29 million square meters have been developed, of which 72% have obtained green building certification, and 45 projects have received LEED certification. In the green manufacturing sector, China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry has been recognized as a national-level green factory and a national-level green supply chain enterprise.
China Merchants Group focuses on "national needs, inevitable trends, and capabilities," firmly serving the "greatest national interests," actively contributing to the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road Initiative," and implementing an internationalization strategy of "rooting in Hong Kong, deepening its presence in Southeast Asia, refining its presence in Europe, cultivating the Middle East and Latin America, and extending to Africa." The group continues to strengthen its overseas development and improve its global port layout and logistics network. Actively serving Hong Kong's transformation from governance to prosperity, the company fully leverages its comprehensive advantages in port and shipping logistics, integrated finance, and retail trade in Hong Kong. For five consecutive years, it has spearheaded the World Shipping Businessmen Convention in Hong Kong, continuously strengthening and expanding its Hong Kong business to support Hong Kong's development as a "three centers and one highland." It has also created a series of branded public welfare projects to deeply serve the improvement of people's livelihoods in Hong Kong.
On November 17, 2025, the 5th World Shipping Businessmen Convention opened at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
China Merchants Group leverages its advantages as a "century-old central enterprise, a comprehensive central enterprise, and a Hong Kong-based central enterprise" to deeply serve the construction of a strong transportation nation, a strong maritime nation, a strong financial nation, and a strong technological nation. Its assets in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area exceed RMB 7.5 trillion, with total profits exceeding RMB 100 billion. It also supports the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China in the new era, promotes the strategic integration and optimization of Liaoning ports, and drives the high-quality development of the Taiping Bay Cooperation and Innovation Zone through industrial introduction. Its total assets in the three northeastern provinces have exceeded RMB 500 billion.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China Merchants Group is committed to accelerating its development into an innovation-driven, internationally-oriented, world-class comprehensive enterprise. Adhering to its mission of "strengthening the nation through industry, serving the nation through finance, and revitalizing the nation through science and technology," the group is accelerating the construction of four "world-class" enterprises—China Merchants Port, Sinotrans, China Merchants Shipping, and China Merchants Bank—and four "leading Chinese" enterprises—China Merchants Expressway, China Merchants Shekou, China Merchants Shipbuilding, and China Merchants Securities—continuously enhancing its core functions and competitiveness.
China Merchants Port (Shenzhen Western Port Area)
China Merchants Port has further improved its global network layout, with overseas revenue continuing to increase, and its equity container throughput ranking second globally. Sinotrans is accelerating the construction of a "new type of carrier" model, ranking first globally in ocean freight forwarding volume and fifth globally in air freight forwarding volume. China Merchants Shipping continues to optimize its fleet capacity structure, with its VLCC/VLOC fleet size ranking first globally. China Merchants Bank maintains industry-leading performance in many core indicators, leading its peers in smart banking construction, and was ranked first among Chinese banks in The Banker's "Top 1000 World Banks" list.
China Merchants Expressway manages highway projects covering 22 provinces and municipalities, with a controlled mileage of 2,143 kilometers and a total investment mileage of 14,900 kilometers. China Merchants Shekou strengthens its strategic focus and actively responds to the industry downturn, achieving leapfrog development in its subsidiary, China Merchants Property Management, ranking among the top three in the industry nationwide in terms of comprehensive strength. China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry's shipbuilding and repair competitiveness has risen to the first tier domestically, ranking second in ship repair output value and fifth in new ship orders. China Merchants Securities' ROAE ranks second among the top ten securities firms, and its revenue rose to fifth in the industry in 2024.
Looking to the future,
China Merchants Group will strengthen strategic guidance,
Through the "15th Five-Year Plan" strategic plan,
Scientifically draw up a development blueprint,
Solidly advance the "Third Entrepreneurship,"
Achieving fruitful results,
Continuously deepening the "Five Transformations,"
Accelerating the construction of a world-class enterprise,
Demonstrating the new responsibilities and new achievements of a century-old central enterprise on the new journey of the new era.
