China's Coal Banks

Coal Financing Since Glasgow: $248 billion

$86.7 B
2022
$75.9 B
2023
$85.5 B
2024

Chinese commercial banks are still by far the biggest coal bankers worldwide and financed the industry with $248 billion since 2022. Out of the top 5 Chinese coal banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was the only bank whose annual coal financing volumes were lower in 2024 than in 2022. The other top 4 banks increased their coal financing since 2022, whereby CITIC showed the biggest growth with almost $5 billion since Glasgow.

Top 5 Chinese Coal Banks

CITIC
$29.3 B
ICBC
$19.6 B
China Merchants Bank
$16.5 B
China Everbright
$15.7 B
Industrial Bank Company
$14.6 B

While individual banks increased their support for the coal industry, coal financing by Chinese banks in total did not grow in the last 3 years. Chinese banks, however, almost exclusively backed Chinese coal companies, in contrast to North American, European and Japanese banks which are global financiers. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is among the few banks that are also global financiers.