China International Capital Corporation ( CICC ) has announced plans to acquire smaller rivals Dongxing Securities and Cinda Securities in a move that would create the country’s fourth-largest investment bank with assets amounting to 1.01 trillion yuan ( US$140 billion ).

The proposed all-stock merger aims to “accelerate the building of a world-class investment bank, support capital market reforms, and lift the securities sector to high-quality development”, CICC says in a statement.

The move comes amid a rising trend of consolidation in China's financial industry and aligns with Beijing’s policy of building high-standard financial institutions. Under the 2024 “Nine New Guidelines”, the central government has called for the creation of “first-class investment banks” to deepen capital-market reforms and channel more funds to strategic industries. Consolidation is seen as the fastest route to achieve this goal: merged entities can share balance-sheet capacity, cross-sell to corporate and retail clients, and spread fixed technology costs across a larger asset base.

Since the policy was announced, the market has seen key mergers in the investment banking sector, such Guotai Junan consolidating with Haitong Securities to form Guotai Haitong Securities. In February this year, the Ministry of Finance transferred stakes in large asset management companies such as China Cinda, China Orient, and China Great Wall to Central Huijin Investment, a state-owned investment company, further consolidating the sector.  

Based on financial data as of the end of the third quarter of 2025, the latest proposed merger would create an entity with combined assets under management of 1.01 trillion yuan, only 16.4 billion yuan behind the third-largest, Huatai Securities. It is expected to have total revenues of 27.4 billion yuan and net profit of 9.5 billion yuan, ranking third and fourth, respectively, in the industry.

Central Huijin Investment is the controller of all three companies. It now oversees eight brokerages – CICC, China Galaxy, China Securities, Cinda Securities, Dongxing Securities, Everbright Securities, Great Wall Glory Securities, and Shenwan Hongyuan.

As the industry consolidation continues, the financial institutions are better positioned to serve as the country’s preferred conduit for global capital-raising, just as China’s IPO pipeline accelerates. The consolidation trend appears to be achieving its desired outcome: merged brokerages like Guolian Minsheng and Guotai Haitong have reported more than 100% growth in net profits.