Abstract: “The purpose of this study is to explore the determinants of 16 China domestically listed commercial banks' profitability over period 2007-2012. This research selects the net interest margin, profit margin and Tobin's q as proxies of the bank profitability, which are measured by three categories: internal determinants, industry-specific determinants and macroeconomic determinants. Panel data model was used to analyze how the determinants affecting the bank's profitability and some recommendations of improving the bank's profitability are provided.”

Keywords: Commercial Banks, Profitability, Fixed Effect Model, Panel Data, Tobin’s q