Capital Addition and Subtraction: A Perspective on the New Logic of Differentiated Development of Small and Medium-sized Banks

On February 4th, the official website of the National Financial Regulatory Administration showed that the capital increase application of Qinghai Guinan Rural Commercial Bank was approved by the regulatory authority, changing the bank's registered capital from 60 million yuan to 66 million yuan. Recently, several small and medium-sized banks, including Dongying Bank and Shijiazhuang Luquan Rural Commercial Bank, have also been approved to increase their registered capital. It is worth noting that some small and medium-sized banks, such as Yanggu Rural Commercial Bank, are "counter-cyclical" in reducing capital. Industry insiders believe that capital increase and share expansion is the mainstream development trend, and the capital reduction of some banks is not necessarily a signal of weakened capital strength. Capital increase can enhance banks' ability to serve the real economy and resist risks, while capital reduction helps improve their capital allocation efficiency. The flexible application of both promotes the optimization of the banking capital structure and aligns with the requirements for differentiated development. (China Securities Journal)