The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Photos: VCG

The first batch of 14 pilot securities companies launched a business operation related to the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Scheme (WMC) on Wednesday, according to media reports.  

Residents from the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) can now purchase one another's financial products through securities companies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), while some fund products with relatively higher risks are also added, China Media Group (CMG) reported. 

Previously, investors could only make investments through commercial banks. 

The inclusion of securities brokerages offers more diverse investment channels and product options for investors, which will enrich the investment involved in the Cross-boundary WMC as securities firms are more inclined to equity investment, said Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee for the Information and Communication Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.  

In addition, it will elevate the investment convenience for individual investors while attracting more clients and help promote the internationalization of the Chinese yuan, Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

To promote the financial sector opening-up of the GBA, Pan told the Global Times on Wednesday that adding securities brokerages will expand the cooperation in the financial sector among the mainland and the two SARs, and provide strong support for the integration of the three markets. He said that the enhanced scheme will be conducive to elevating GBA's financial internationalization. 

The Cross-boundary WMC primarily targets individual investors with specific eligibility requirements. The pilot program consists of the Southbound Scheme and the Northbound Scheme with the yuan being the settlement currency. The investment process is conducted through a closed-loop fund flow system, set up by financial institutions in the GBA. 

As of the end of October, a total of 120,000 individual investors participated in the scheme, including 50,000 investors from Hong Kong and Macao SARs and 70,000 investors from the Chinese mainland. More than 95 billion yuan ($13.07 billion) of cross-boundary funds were realized by banks in the mainland under standardized management system.    

In January 2024, enhancement measures for the Cross-boundary WMC were announced to refine the eligibility criteria of mainland investors, expand the scope of participating institutions to include eligible securities firms, expand the scope of eligible products, increase individual investor's quota, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.