Citi Launches China Push as Foreign Firms Chase Local Wealth

Beijing has signaled a more open stance toward foreign financial institutions, prompting a renewed push by Wall Street firms to enter the Chinese market. The move follows a September summit between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping, after which China pledged to approve applications from all foreign financial institutions seeking to operate in the country.

Citi is leading this week's activity. CEO Jane Fraser is currently in Shanghai to kick off the bank's annual China conference. Citi recently received approval from Beijing to establish a wholly-owned securities company. Anna Wintour, the former editor-in-chief of Vogue, is also attending the event in person. Condé Nast did not respond to a request for comment regarding her attendance.

The drive to enter China is fueled by the sheer volume of local wealth. According to Crisil Coalition Greenwich, mainland Chinese individuals with bankable assets exceeding $125,000 hold a combined $27 trillion. The population of millionaires has nearly quadrupled in ten years, rising from 1 million to nearly 4 million. Nuno Cordeiro, head of wealth management at Crisil Coalition Greenwich, stated that the environment is "meaningfully more open than it was a decade ago," though it remains highly regulated.

Partnerships are becoming the standard strategy for these foreign firms. On October 28, Franklin Templeton and ChinaAMC signed a strategic partnership to share market insights and jointly develop products. Franklin Templeton oversees $1.8 trillion in assets, while ChinaAMC manages over 3.1 trillion yuan. The two firms are already working on co-branded exchange-traded funds across Hong Kong, U.S., and European structures. Sherrie Dai, a managing director at ChinaAMC, noted that Chinese investors are increasingly looking for global investment vehicles.

Challenges persist despite the increased access. Chinese stocks have underperformed their U.S. peers this year. BlackRock shut down its China Innovation Fund in late 2025, which held only $31.7 million in net assets. Vanguard sold its stake in a mainland China mutual fund operator to Ant Group in 2023. Peter Alexander, founder of Z-Ben Advisors in Shanghai, attributed some of these difficulties to "micromanagement" from headquarters outside China.

Market volatility also complicates long-term investment strategies. State-linked funds, often called the National Team, frequently buy stocks to limit sell-offs. Last week, a senior financial regulator warned that too much capital concentration in the tech sector could drive up leverage and crowd out traditional industries. Liqian Ren, a quantitative manager at WisdomTree, said that rapid price surges raise the risk that investors are "buying at the top." She noted that high volatility means investors can only hold a certain amount of Chinese stocks due to perceived risk.

Several key events are scheduled for the coming weeks. On November 10, new trade data is expected to be released. The Citi China Conference will run through November 13 in Shanghai and Shenzhen. The extended Singles Day shopping festival wraps up on November 13. On November 16, China will report retail sales, industrial production, and fixed-asset investment figures.