Investment bank China International Capital Corp and investment banking business of China Citic Bank and the Bank of China posted a plunge of more than 40 percent annually in their revenue in 2011 due to a sluggish capital market.

CICC, the country's flagship investment bank, saw the biggest drop in revenue of 50.23 percent to US$137 million last year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

CICC ranked 20th among Asian investment banks last year, down from 11th in 2010.

CICC's revenue tumbled because of a sharp decline of over 60 percent in the bank's share underwriting business to US$88.3 million.

It was reported that CICC had to cut 30 employees in the investment banking department this month due to poor performance.

With a revenue of US$160 million BOC's ranking fell to 17th spot last year from 10th the year before, or a drop of 43.3 percent.

The total revenue of investment banks in China last year dropped 20 percent annually, said a report by financial data provider Dealogic in January.