ICBC ranks ninth for the first time in a recent announcement of 2007 Top 500 world companies by UK Financial Times. Meanwhile, in the latest listing of HK Asiaweek of "Top 300 Asia Bank", ICBC is named as the second largest bank with a total asset of over USD 930 billion and the most profitable bank with a net profit of over USD 6 billion.

Companies in the Top 500 list of UK Financial Times each year are ranked by capitalization. Those with higher capital benchmark are ranked in front. Financial Times's 2007 listing is largely unaffected, having the same four largest companies in the world, Exxon Mobile, General Electric, Microsoft and Citicorp. Though a new player this year, ICBC surges in performance and enters the Big Ten. On October 27, 2006, ICBC created a world record by raising a capital of USD 21.9 billion through simultaneously listing in HK H-shares and Mainland A-shares. Amassed with a total capitalization of USD 139.1 billion, ICBC ranked fifth in the world on the day of going public. The valuation of RMB and vagaries of China stock market help ICBC to stay close to the world largest bank, Citibank. Today, ICBC holds tightly a total capitalization of USD 210 billion and remains comfortably as the third largest bank in the world.

Asiaweek coverage of "Top 300 Asia Banks" in their latest edition quotes that recent years of reform in China banks is a new force to shape up new Asia banking landscape. China banks are jumping up the ranking against the winning Japanese banks. Every year, Asiaweek conducts a listing of the top banks by total assets in 12 Asian countries and regions. China banks are the highest movers in 2007 listing with three China banks of the top five. ICBC moves into the second place from the third, replacing Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation of Japan. ICBC also leads the profit listing with more than USD 6 billion in 2006, 30% increase over the same period of last year and becomes the most profitable bank in Asia.

Asiaweek report continues to state that ICBC net profit is increasing at a rate as high as 30.2% and staging a 16.3% growth in total assets last year. During the long period of eight years from 1999 till 2006, non-performance rate of all new ICBC loans remain under 2%. The figures clearly demonstrate that ICBC is taking a number of opportunities for fast and strong growth.