Shortly after the new chairman took office, Weihai City Commercial Bank changed its name to Weihai Bank. What are the considerations behind it?

Blue Whale News, February 28 (Reporter Jin Lei)Recently, Weihai Bank issued an announcement announcing the change of the company name, the amendment of the company’s articles of association and the change of the company logo. The bank’s Chinese name has been changed from Weihai City Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. to Weihai Bank Co., Ltd., and the English name has been changed from WEIHAI CITY COMMERCIAL BANK CO., LTD.& rdquo; Change to WEIHAI BANK CO., LTD.& rdquo;。

The resolution on the articles of association has been approved by shareholders at the extraordinary shareholders ‘meeting held by the bank on December 30, 2024, and the “Reply from the Shandong Supervision Bureau of the State Financial Supervision and Administration on the Change of Name of Weihai City Commercial Bank Co., Ltd.”(Lu Jinfu [2025] No. 60) has been obtained.

However, as of the afternoon of February 28, the company’s official website has not been updated, and it still uses the name of Weihai City Commercial Bank and the old LOGO.

It is understood that after the name change, the business entities and legal relationships of the bank will remain unchanged. Contracts, agreements and other legal documents signed with the original name of Weihai City Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. will continue to be valid during their validity period. All product carriers such as bank cards, deposit certificates, passbooks, and electronic accounts held by customers in the original name of the bank are valid, and the original business relationships and service commitments remain unchanged.

According to the official website, Weihai Bank was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Weihai City, Shandong Province. It was formerly known as Weihai City Xinghai Urban Credit Cooperative. It now governs 126 branches including Jinan, Tianjin, and Qingdao. It is the only city commercial bank in Shandong Province that has full coverage of outlets in 16 cities. It will be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2020.

At the end of last year, Weihai Bank conducted a coaching change, and Meng Dongxiao’s chairmanship qualifications were approved by the regulatory authorities. Prior to this, Tan Xianguo had served as chairman of Weihai Bank for 13 years.

Judging from his past experience, Meng Dongxiao has previously worked for Minsheng Bank for a long time. He has held multiple positions in Minsheng Bank of China, including assistant to the president of Shidong Branch of Shanghai Branch, general manager of the Quality Management Center of the Industrial and Commercial Enterprise Finance Department, General Manager of the Compliance and Quality Management Center of the Financial Division of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and General Manager of the Shanghai Branch of the Health Finance Division, etc., did not join Weihai Bank until 2016, and was officially promoted to President of Weihai Bank in February 2018.

The bank’s name change is also the bank’s first major move since Meng Dongxiao became chairman.

Some industry insiders said that judging from Weihai Bank’s name change, it is possible to slowly deploy its business across the country, changing the previous impression of being limited to Weihai. Judging from past historical experience, when Guangdong Development Bank changed its name to Guangfa Bank more than ten years ago, there were factors such as the name Guangdong Development Bank being too regional.