Citi released a report predicting that the covered Chinese banks will see a reduced revenue decline in 1H25, with a projected YoY downfall of 0.1%. This was due to a smaller NIM compression and alleviated pressure on trading gain in 1H25, as the 10-year China treasury bond yield was expected to drop to 1.65% by the end of 2Q25.In alignment, the pressure on earnings is likely to ease sequentially, with earnings expected to remain flat YoY in 1H25, improving from a 1.3% YoY decline in 1Q25. The broker assumed that the better-than-expected macro conditions in 2Q25 may entice banks to maintain counter-cyclical provisioning practices to preserve a larger earnings buffer and make room for more provision releases expected in 2H25.Related NewsCiti: 2Q Earnings Pressure on CN Banks Eases; ABC, BANKCOMM May Outstrip PeersAmong major SOE banks, ABC (01288.HK) -0.040 (-0.777%) Short selling $133.52M; Ratio 23.116% and BANKCOMM (03328.HK) -0.070 (-0.990%) Short selling $61.34M; Ratio 40.685% are likely to achieve faster profit growth than peers in 2Q25; ICBC (01398.HK) -0.040 (-0.664%) Short selling $330.89M; Ratio 25.104% , PU DEV BANK (600000.SH) +0.110 (+0.859%) , and BANK OF BJ (601169.SH) +0.030 (+0.465%) are expected to report 2Q25 results beating street consensus. Conversely, CM BANK (03968.HK) -0.700 (-1.373%) Short selling $321.86M; Ratio 42.541% may underperform expectations.(HK stocks quote is delayed for at least 15 mins.Short Selling Data as at 2025-08-01 16:25.) (A Shares quote is delayed for at least 15 mins.)