GBA2 | GBAFOCUS Friday, November 13, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY Guangdong sets wheels in motion By investing in mainland wealth Financial perks to propel the Bay management products with stable Area’s opening-up and returns, Hong Kong investors cross-boundary will ... reap the dividends of cooperation, including the nation’s economic growth...” easier access to Rannie Lee, a banker at HSBC financial and Bank (China) medical services for Hong Kong and Macao residents in Guangdong province, are in the works as experts hail the far-reaching reforms. Zhou Mo reports from Shenzhen. uangdong province — home to nine of the 11 cities that make up the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macao Greater Bay Area — is Gpulling out all the stops in pursuing the goal of turning the region into a premier economic powerhouse within the next two decades. The province sees augmented finan- cial opening-up, as well as deeper cross- Macao and overseas also enjoy boundary cooperation with the Hong easier access to the mainland Kong and Macao special administrative market under the program, with regions, as critical for the region’s growth the fi rst Hong Kong-funded con- as it pushes ahead with a new round of sumer finance company, the first economic stimulus measures aimed at joint-venture consultancy for securi- upgrading itself from a traditional manu- ties investment and the fi rst Hong Kong- facturing center to a world innovation and owned fund management fi rm being set technology hub. All the ingredients are up in the mainland part of the Bay Area. wealth management ance organizations in also being thrown in to make the region a Analysts and industry insiders say the connect pilot program Guangdong, Hong Kong pleasant place for Hong Kong and Macao signifi cance of the new measures lies not in the Bay Area, fi nancial and Macao working togeth- residents, as well as overseas Chinese, to only in the benefi ts they’ll create for mar- institutions in Hong Kong er to develop new products, work and live in. ket players in the fi nancial business, but will be able to help mainland such as cross-boundary medical In late July, the Guangdong authorities also in the boon they will bring to the gen- investors make asset allocations glob- insurance. Insurers are also encour- set in motion a wide-ranging program to eral public in the Bay Area, as all residents ally, enabling them to better manage their environment for cross-boundary living, aged to develop critical illness insurance enforce the directives for promoting the in the region will be able to reap the fruits assets,” she said. with incentives to facilitate property pur- products tailor-made for residents in the Bay Area’s fi nancial advancement follow- of such a move. The coronavirus pandemic has further chases and medical care. Bay Area using the region’s medical data. ing a central government document call- One of the highlights of the Guangdong lowered global interest rates. Widening According to the document, cross- The authorities have vowed to support ing for greater reform and opening-up of program is the promotion of a wide range interest-rate spreads, a relatively stable boundary real estate mortgaging will be market players in setting up a medical the southern region’s fi nancial industry. of cross-boundary fi nancial activities. Sup- yuan, and steady growth of the mainland allowed in the nine Guangdong cities in insurance service platform to handle insur- The program involves 80 concrete steps port will be extended to Hong Kong and economy have made renminbi-denomi- the Bay Area cluster. Each Hong Kong or ance claims, health management, illness covering five areas: the facilitation of Macao residents in making cross-bound- nated assets more attractive, Lee said. “By Macao resident will still be restricted to prevention and other services to enhance cross-boundary trade, investment and ary investments in wealth management investing in mainland wealth manage- buying just one property in Guangdong the overall level of medical services. fi nancing; further opening-up of the fi nan- products distributed by mainland banks ment products with stable returns, Hong cities, but they can use that property as “More and more mainland residents are cial sector; wider connectivity in the fi nan- in the area and vice versa. Kong investors will not only reap the divi- collateral for housing loans from banks buying medical insurance in Hong Kong, cial markets and infrastructure; enhanc- dends of the nation’s economic growth, in the two SARs. Previously, they couldn’t but consumer experience is not that good ing the innovation capability of fi nancial Connecting wealth but also get more diversifi ed investment secure such loans without collateral from because medical resources on the main- services; and keeping cross-boundary The measures followed a series of cross- options.” Hong Kong or Macao lenders. Neither was land and in Hong Kong are not integrated. fi nancial risks at bay. boundary fi nancial programs linking the Lee expects the fi rst products allowed it possible to borrow from mainland banks Also, the two have di erent standards in Latest government information shows mainland and Hong Kong in recent years, to be traded would be those with a clear that did not have the information concern- medical services and medical fees. Such 65 of the measures have been implement- such as the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock structure and relatively low risks given ing their fi nancial and credit standing. problems have hampered the develop- ed or are being pushed forward. For exam- Connect, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock that the document highlights the need “Previously, due to the lack of infor- ment of the region’s insurance industry ple, the new policy of giving more support Connect and the Bond Connect. to ensure investors’ interests and stick mation on the mainland in terms of the and could a ect cross-boundary fl ow of to innovative enterprises and startups by Au King-lun, executive director of Hong to the principle of “safe, orderly and risk- identity, income and credit status of Hong people,” said Yu. taking advantage of the Chinese main- Kong’s Financial Services Development controllable” operation. For instance, Kong and Macao residents, it’s hard for “By co-developing cross-boundary medi- land’s capital market is in force, with a Council, said last month that regulators southbound products could fi rst include them to secure housing loans from main- cal insurance, insurers from Guangdong, batch of fi rms having been listed on Shen- were working with the industry to start publicly offered funds with medium or land banks,” said Yu Lingqu, deputy direc- Hong Kong and Macao can make break- zhen’s tech-heavy ChiNext board under the a wealth management program, but it’s low risks and money market funds, while tor of the Department of Finance and throughs in standard unifi cation, share registration-based initial public o ering unclear whether this could get off the northbound products could cover publicly Modern Industries at Shenzhen-based medical resources, and o er integrated system. The new system, which did away ground this year. Investments will be o ered funds and renminbi fi nancial prod- think tank China Development Institute. services to consumers, thereby enabling with regulatory IPO approval, makes it capped at 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) ucts with medium or low risks, she said. the insurance sector to play a bigger role easier for these enterprises to seek equity either way, with an individual quota of 1 The Bay Area, with a population of 70 Easier housing, insurance in the Bay Area’s development,” Yu added. fi nancing. million yuan, according to the Hong Kong million, is one of the most developed and “The launch of the cross-boundary real Tan Yunrui, an insurance practitioner At the same time, banks and insurers in Monetary Authority. wealthiest regions in China. According estate mortgage registration will enable in Hong Kong, said she looks forward to eight mainland Bay Area cities, excluding Rannie Lee, Guangdong co-chief execu- to the Hurun Wealth Report 2019, there Hong Kong, Macao and other overseas more career opportunities created by the Shenzhen, have been given greater fl ex- tive and head of Pearl River Delta wealth were nearly 680,000 families in Guang- banks to obtain information concerning region’s fi nancial development. ibility in their operations, having been and personal banking at HSBC Bank dong with assets of 6 million yuan, while home purchases by Hong Kong and Macao “Deepening fi nancial cooperation and exempted from preliminary regulatory (China), said that Hong Kong, as a global the number of households with assets of people on the mainland and grant them increasing connectivity in the fi nancial approval in setting up new branches, clos- fi nancial hub, is also an international asset 10 million yuan was 285,000. The fi gures housing loans. In this way, they can enjoy markets between Hong Kong and the ing down o ces or appointing senior exec- and wealth management center. The city ranked second in the country, behind Bei- the same housing-related fi nancial ser- mainland will create more job opportuni- utives in the region. They can now deal is one of the key venues outside the main- jing. vices as their mainland counterparts,” ties for us. The future is bright,” he said. with these matters through administrative land where mainland investors park their Besides opening wider investment chan- he said. procedures. assets. nels for Bay Area residents, the fi nancial Bay Area residents can also enjoy more