On 8 June 2022, Guangzhou officially launched the construction of a Cross-border Wealth Management and Asset Management Center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with a ceremonial event held in Guangzhou. The ceremony marks the start of a new journey for Guangzhou to fully build a Greater Bay Area wealth management and asset management center.
Earlier this year in April, the General Office of the Guangzhou Municipal Government issued the “Implementation Plan for the Construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Wealth Management and Asset Management Center in Guangzhou” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). Taking into account the key strengths of and the resources allocated to each district in Guangzhou, the Plan proposes to focus on cultivating the “Guangzhou asset management corridor” with one city (Guangzhou International Financial District), one port (Yuzhu area of Huangpu port) and one bay (Mingzhu Bay in Nansha district) as the core, thus forming a cross-district spatial structure.
The Plan is based mainly on the following principles:
- Establishing a high-quality ecosystem that focuses on key regions
- Eeveloping the service industry for the benefit of people’s livelihood, reinforcing the harmonization of regulations to accentuate the unique characteristics of the Greater Bay Area
- Further embedding the self-supervision approach based on the principle of risk prevention.
Further objectives include accelerating the improvement of the asset management organizational system, developing a distinctive wealth and asset management market, effectively managing the associated risks and transforming Guangzhou into a cross-border wealth and asset management center based in the Greater Bay Area.
A task force is to be set up, led by the municipal leader in charge of financial affairs, with the participation of all relevant departments and district governments. The city’s overall planning and coordination capacity shall be strengthened, and the responsibilities of all relevant departments clearly delineated and communicated. Furthermore, to increase publicity and support promotional activities, the municipal and local financial regulatory authorities will merge its media-related resources and use a multitude of channels to carry out diversified publicity work in respect of the Plan.
Six key points are included in the Plan:
- First, to create distinctive wealth and asset management clusters and form a cross-regional spatial structure. This requires setting up a wealth and asset management headquarters zone in Guangzhou with “One City, One Port, and One Bay” as the core, and supporting the establishment of a wealth and asset management zone in Guangzhou and in Yuzhu, Huangpu Port, as well as the construction of a cross-border wealth and asset management area in Mingzhu Bay, Nansha district.
- Second, to build a diversified institutional system and enrich the asset management market. The Plan will expand and consolidate the existing financial institutions, introduce and establish new asset management institutions, support the formation of professional intermediary service institutions, and encourage the creation of group institutions specializing in capital management and industrial funds.
- Third, to innovate asset management products and services so as to highlight the distinctive features of the Greater Bay Area. The Plan will encourage the innovation of financial products for the elderly, accelerate the development of carbon-finance businesses, innovate cross-border asset management products in the Greater Bay Area, facilitate cross-border capital flows, as well as explore the widening of the scope of emerging investment pilot projects.
- Fourth, to optimize policy support and accompanying measures to promote the development of talent clusters for asset management institutions. Efforts are to be stepped up to attract new talent, and the education and training system for aspiring asset management personnel shall be improved.
- Fifth, to foster the exchange of information in order to create an environment conducive to shared development and open collaboration.
- Sixth, to strengthen risk prevention and control so as to ensure the safe and stable operation of cross-border financial businesses. The Plan will improve the efficacy of cross-regional and cross-sector risk monitoring and disposal mechanisms, and promote the practice of self-regulation in the wealth and asset management industry in Guangzhou.
Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong Province – a historical city with a rich cultural heritage, an international business center, and an integrated transport hub. With over 30 years’ history of reforms and opening-up, Guangzhou has prided itself on its openness to development and innovation as well as on its status as an international metropolis in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Establishing a wealth and asset management center in Guangzhou represents an important step in implementing policy documents regarding the provision of financial support for the development of the Greater Bay Area, and in promoting the Greater Bay Area as an international financial hub. It will help meet residents’ demand for asset management and wealth preservation and appreciation, as well as encourage more investment to flow into low-carbon, scientific, and technological innovation fields in line with national, regional, and industrial development strategies. In addition, it will play a positive role in deepening the financial ties between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao and promoting high-quality economic development.
