The effectiveness of the financial market is reflected in the financial crisis which mostly results in credit risk. The impact of credit risk in China is likely to affect the global economy since China is the fastest‐growing economy as well as the second‐best economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product. Using panel data for twenty‐eight listed commercial banks in China from 1990 to 2020, the study explored the relationship between credit risk and business performance. The authors utilized the Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) as the primary estimator while the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) was used as a robust estimator. A negative and statistically significant relationship was found between non‐performing loan and return on equity, as well as loan loss provision and profitability of the bank. On the contrary, capital adequacy ratio revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship with bank performance. Credit growth on the other hand recorded positive but insignificant relationship with performance of banks. The findings will add up to existing literature on credit risk and business performance of commercial banks.