China’s Wealth Management Connect — an investment initiative connecting mainland China to Hong Kong, and viewed by many as a liberalisation of China’s strict capital controls — attracted a surge of inflows into high-interest-rate deposits earlier this year. These flows from China came after regulators broadened the range of products that could be offered, following years of underwhelming take-up of the Connect initiative.

However, the programme has begun to lose momentum again, as the US Federal Reserve embarks on a cycle of interest rate cuts — causing market participants to urge a further relaxation of the rules, to boost its appeal.

Launched in 2021 as a pilot scheme, Wealth Management Connect allows residents of Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in the southern Guangdong province — a population of more than 86mn — to invest directly in wealth management products across borders.