China’s Financial Leasing Industry Reaches 5.23 Trillion Yuan in Total Assets

China’s financial leasing industry recorded total assets of 5.23 trillion yuan (approximately US$730 billion) at the end of 2025, according to the China Financial Leasing Industry Development Report (2026) released by the China Banking Association (CBA). The figure represents a year-on-year increase of 7.89%, underscoring the sector’s continued expansion and its growing role in supporting equipment financing and industrial development.

The report, published on August 3, marks the ninth consecutive year the CBA’s Financial Leasing Professional Committee has issued its annual industry assessment. It highlights steady asset growth, improved risk management, and a notable surge in science-and-technology-related leasing segments.

Strong Risk Metrics and Asset Quality

According to the report, the industry’s non-performing financing lease asset ratio declined to 0.91% in 2025, reflecting improved risk governance and enhanced resilience across the sector. The CBA noted that the industry’s “asset scale is steadily expanding, risk control systems continue to improve, and operational stability is continuously strengthening,” laying a solid financial foundation for serving national strategies.

The report’s findings were also detailed by Securities Daily, which outlined four key areas of industry development: risk prevention and asset growth, direct leasing expansion, operating leasing growth, and the acceleration of science-and-technology leasing.

Direct Leasing Surges on Equipment Renewal Push

A standout trend in 2025 was the rapid growth of direct leasing, driven by national policies promoting equipment renewal and manufacturing transformation. Direct leasing assets reached 1.84 trillion yuan, up 21.05% year-on-year, and accounted for 39.74% of the total leasing asset balance.

Operating leasing also demonstrated steady growth, with assets reaching 1.07 trillion yuan, up 10.25% year-on-year. New deployments totaled 238.25 billion yuan, an increase of 11.46%. The industry continues to consolidate its traditional strengths in aviation, shipping, and large equipment while accelerating the transition to asset full-lifecycle operation service models, according to the Economic Information Daily.

Science-and-Technology Leasing Emerges as Core Growth Driver

The most striking development highlighted in the report is the explosive growth of science-and-technology leasing, which has become the industry’s primary growth engine. Computing power leasing assets surged to 97.262 billion yuan, up 109.89% year-on-year, while new energy storage leasing assets reached 56.732 billion yuan, up 154.66%.

The industry is also expanding into emerging sectors such as commercial aerospace and the low-altitude economy. As Beike Economy reported, the science-and-technology track has “fully become the core driving force for the high-quality development of the financial leasing industry.”

This rapid growth reflects China’s massive investment in AI computing infrastructure and its broader energy transition goals, which are driving demand for leasing solutions in these cutting-edge sectors.

Regulatory Framework Tightens

The report’s emphasis on risk management comes amid a tightening regulatory environment. In December 2025, the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) issued the “Financial Leasing Company Financing Lease Business Management Measures,” effective January 1, 2026, introducing comprehensive end-to-end process supervision across the industry.

This follows the revised “Financial Leasing Company Management Measures” issued in September 2024, which took effect in November of that year. The evolving regulatory framework aims to strengthen governance while supporting the industry’s alignment with national development strategies.

Broader Economic Significance

China’s financial leasing industry plays a crucial role in the country’s economic strategy by channeling financial resources into productive sectors. The industry supports the national large-scale equipment renewal program, finances manufacturing modernization, and serves emerging technology sectors critical to China’s future competitiveness.

As China Economic Net noted, the sector’s growth is closely tied to the national strategy of cultivating “new quality productive forces” — an innovation-driven development approach emphasizing technological advancement across key industries.

What to Watch

With the new regulatory measures now in effect, market observers will be watching how the industry balances continued growth with compliance requirements. The sustainability of triple-digit growth in computing power and energy storage leasing will also be a key indicator of the sector’s trajectory in 2026 and beyond.

The industry’s expansion into emerging applications such as commercial aerospace and low-altitude economy leasing signals a broadening of its role in China’s industrial transformation, positioning financial leasing as an increasingly vital component of the nation’s economic modernization efforts.