China Weighs Expanding Wealth Management Connect Beyond Greater Bay Area
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China is preparing the next phase of its cross-border wealth management connect program amid mounting calls to expand it beyond the Greater Bay Area, as demand grows among investors in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities.
The wealth management connect program, launched in September 2021, allows residents in Hong Kong, Macao and nine Chinese mainland cities in Guangdong to invest in each other’s financial products under a closed-loop system. In February 2024, the program underwent a “2.0” upgrade that raised quotas, widened eligible products and admitted brokerages alongside banks.
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- September 2021：
- The wealth management connect program was launched, allowing residents in Hong Kong, Macao, and nine Guangdong cities to invest in each other's financial products.
- February 2024：
- The program was upgraded to '2.0', raising quotas, widening eligible products, and admitting brokerages alongside banks.
- December 2024：
- Brokerages began operating under the program, with inaugural trades completed by firms such as GF Securities, CICC, and Galaxy Securities.
- March 2025：
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Eddie Yue stated that regulators were considering further changes to the program.
- June 2025：
- The HKMA allowed banks to hold three-way online meetings with mainland clients and partner banks to present eligible southbound products after one-time authorization.
- By June 2025：
- Deposits accounted for 59% of southbound funds, funds for 36%, and bonds for 5%, according to HKMA data.
- By July 2025：
- The number of individual investors in the program had more than doubled to 164,600, with cross-border fund transfers reaching 120.9 billion yuan.
- As of July 2025：
- 34 mainland banks and 14 securities firms were approved to handle fund transfers under the program.
- As of Wednesday (September 10, 2025)：
- Southbound investors had used 16.7 billion yuan of their quota, about 11% of the total, while northbound investors used 246 million yuan, or 0.16%.
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