The latest list of the world’s top 1000 banks compiled by the UK’s The Banker puts Chinese state-owned lenders in all four of the top spots.
According to the list released on 1 July ICBC took the top spot, followed by China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China.
While China’s big biggest banks were 51% larger than America’s big four banks in 2019 in terms of tier 1 capital, in 2020 this gap had expanded to 72%, following 14% rise in the tier 1 capital of the former as compared to a 3% expansion for the latter.
World’s Top 10 Banks in 2020
| 2020 Rank | 2019 Rank | Bank | Country | Tier 1 Capital (USD$B) |
| 1 | 1 | ICBC | China | 380 |
| 2 | 2 | China Construction Bank | China | 316 |
| 3 | 3 | Agricultural Bank of China | China | 278 |
| 4 | 4 | Bank of China | China | 258 |
| 5 | 5 | JPMorgan Chase | US | 214 |
| 6 | 6 | Bank of America | US | 188 |
| 7 | 7 | Wells Fargo | US | 159 |
| 8 | 8 | Citigroup | US | 156 |
| 9 | 9 | HSBC | UK | 148 |
| 10 | 10 | Mitsubishi UFJ | Japan | 144 |
Chinese banks also took out four of the top five spots in terms of pre-tax profits in 2020.
World’s Top 10 Banks in 2020 in Terms of Pre-Tax Profits
| Rank | Bank | Country | Pre-tax Profits (USD$m) |
| 1 | ICBC | China | 56,050 |
| 2 | China Construction Bank | China | 46,723 |
| 3 | JPMorgan Chase | US | 44,538 |
| 4 | Agricultural Bank of China | China | 38,137 |
| 5 | Bank of China | China | 35,858 |
| 6 | Bank of America | US | 32,755 |
| 7 | Wells Fargo | US | 24,198 |
| 8 | Citigroup | US | 23,870 |
| 9 | Sberbank | Russia | 17,269 |
| 10 | China Merchants Bank | China | 16,757 |
China’s banking sector came first in terms of profits, which stood at USD$330 billion, for a 5.7% increase compared to 2019.
World’s Top 10 Banking Sectors in Terms of Profits in 2020
| Rank | Country | 2020 (USD$bn) | 2019 (USD$bn) | %cHANGE |
| 1 | China | 330 | 312 | +5.7% |
| 2 | US | 253 | 255 | -0.6% |
| 3 | Canada | 47.2 | 47.3 | +0.2% |
| 4 | France | 43.0 | 43.8 | -1.96% |
| 5 | Japan | 41.4 | 39.8 | +4.1% |
| 6 | UK | 38.0 | 43.5 | -12.7% |
| 7 | Australia | 28.6 | 35.1 | -18.6% |
| 8 | Spain | 28.4 | 33.7 | -15.8% |
| 9 | Russia | 27.4 | 23.3 | +17.9% |
| 10 | Brazil | 22.7 | 23.8 | -4.6% |
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