by HE Liuying

 

In China's shifting financial landscape, demand for wealth management is rising fast, turning the sector into a battleground for banks. With a growing middle class and expanding high-net-worth population, clients are seeking more diversified and professional financial services.

Standard Chartered, one of the earliest foreign banks in China, is responding by deepening its presence. On July 30, it opened a new priority private wealth center in Hangzhou, its third on the mainland. For LU Jing, CEO of Standard Chartered China, the country is central to the bank's global wealth management strategy.

Jiemian News: How do you view the opportunities in China's wealth management market?

Lu: China is now the world's second-largest wealth management market. As household disposable incomes rise and policies such as the development of the third pillar of the pension system take shape, demand for asset management has been growing steadily and rapidly. With per capita GDP surpassing US$10,000 (71,172 yuan), households are gradually shifting from holding primarily physical assets to allocating more toward financial assets. This transition opens up broad new opportunities for growth in the industry.

We are confident about the market's outlook and have been making continuous investments. Our goal is to leverage Standard Chartered's global network and expertise to serve clients both within China and worldwide, meeting the increasingly complex wealth management needs of Chinese customers.

The country's affluent population is expanding quickly, with China home to the world's second-largest group of high-net-worth individuals and the largest – and still growing – middle-income class. Together they provide a vast and stable client base. At the same time, investment preferences are diversifying. Many investors are moving beyond real estate to embrace a broader range of financial products, and interest in ESG-related opportunities has risen sharply. According to our latest 2025 Sustainable Investing Survey, 84 percent of investors in mainland China say they favor investments linked to sustainability, one of the highest levels among all markets we surveyed.

Another powerful force is the wave of intergenerational wealth transfer. Over the next decade, an estimated 20 trillion yuan will be handed down to the next generation. This creates strong demand for estate planning, family trusts, and related services.

More recently, the performance of China's equity market has also aligned with our wealth management team's outlook. With new technologies such as artificial intelligence reshaping industries, we see the potential for both earnings growth and a re-rating of valuations. There will always be ups and downs in the market, but over the long run, a more prosperous capital market will not only lift investor confidence but also unlock broader opportunities in wealth management.

 

Jiemian News: Not long ago, Standard Chartered announced the opening of its third priority private center on the mainland, this one in Hangzhou. What is the bank's strategy in China's wealth management market, and what advantages set it apart?

Lu: China is one of the key contributors to Standard Chartered's affluent client business, and it is an indispensable part of our global strategy.

Since 2023, we've opened priority private centers in both Shanghai and Beijing, deepening local services and accelerating the expansion of our wealth management footprint in China. The new Hangzhou center continues that trajectory, and we plan to add another in the Greater Bay Area later this year.

Our strategy is also about the quality of advice. We start with in-depth market insights, which form the foundation for our investment recommendations. In China, we provide clients with access to a wide range of products spanning both domestic and international markets – a reflection of the growing demand among Chinese investors for global asset allocation.

This year we published a report on the international banking needs of affluent clients and entrepreneurs in China. One of the key findings is that, as Chinese companies expand abroad, more families are living increasingly international lives, whether for work, study, or both. They want highly personalized cross-border banking experiences tailored to those realities.

In response, we launched our enterprise "go global" Concierge service, designed as a one-stop, customized solution. It supports both corporate and personal needs, from account opening and overseas investment to life in the Greater Bay Area, next-generation overseas education planning, and family wealth succession.

At the same time, we are enhancing our capabilities to better serve global Chinese entrepreneurs, professionals, and their families. This includes building overseas service hubs and hiring relationship managers who can serve clients in Chinese, ensuring that wherever our clients go, they can count on seamless and culturally attuned banking support.

 

Jiemian News: Cross-border business has long been a strength for foreign banks. On June 18, Shanghai and Hong Kong signed a joint action plan to deepen cooperation as international financial centers. How does Standard Chartered view the prospects for financial collaboration between the two cities?

Lu: Shanghai and Hong Kong are the "twin engines" of China's financial industry, and we are optimistic about the strategic prospects of their cooperation. Better alignment of rules between the two markets will further enhance cross-border capital connectivity, especially in areas such as renminbi (RMB) internationalization and sustainable finance, where we see significant room for growth. Leveraging our role as a "super connector," Standard Chartered is committed to helping clients capture the investment and financing opportunities created by China's financial opening.

We have been deeply rooted in both Shanghai and Hong Kong for more than 165 years, participating in and benefiting from the process of China's financial liberalization. Over the long term, we have actively supported initiatives from RMB internationalization to closer Shanghai–Hong Kong financial ties.

Shanghai is the world's onshore hub for the RMB, with strengths in pricing, payments, and risk management. Hong Kong is the largest offshore RMB center, with advantages in cross-border capital flows, offshore trade, and FX futures. Closer cooperation between these two centers will take RMB internationalization to the next level. For our part, Standard Chartered continues to promote the expansion of the "cross-border RMB circle of friends" by serving the real economy and by facilitating overseas institutional investment in China.

On sustainable finance, we are strengthening Shanghai–Hong Kong collaboration to help companies seize opportunities from the green transition, particularly in developing, delivering, and innovating green financial products.

Looking ahead, we hope to draw on our international network and financial expertise to explore further opportunities in fintech innovation, wealth management, and beyond, and to play an active role in deepening financial cooperation between Shanghai and Hong Kong.

 

Jiemian News: Standard Chartered recently hosted a client event focused on China–ASEAN cooperation. ASEAN has become a crucial market for Chinese companies going global. How do you view the prospects for China–ASEAN collaboration, and what role does Standard Chartered plan to play?

Lu: We see enormous potential in China–ASEAN cooperation. Standard Chartered aims to leverage our extensive network and long experience in ASEAN, along with our strengths in digital banking and sustainable finance, to provide stronger financial support for trade and investment between China and ASEAN.

As the only international bank with full coverage in all 10 ASEAN countries, we use our localized presence to help Chinese companies build resilient supply chains, with a focus on supporting investment in emerging sectors such as electric vehicles, solar power, and the digital economy.

On the financial innovation side, we utilize free trade zone policies such as cross-border RMB cash pools to help companies manage liquidity.

 

Jiemian News: In recent years, the internationalization of the RMB has been gaining momentum. How do you view its development?

Lu: We've seen growing international acceptance of the RMB, especially in cross-border trade settlements. In the first half of this year, the RMB accounted for 53 percent of cross-border payments. Using RMB for financing, investment, and settlement helps Chinese companies naturally hedge against exchange rate risks.

With US dollar interest rates remaining high in recent years, the RMB has also become a lower-cost financing currency. Meanwhile, the ecosystem supporting RMB use overseas—from the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) to various "connectivity" mechanisms—is gradually improving, making it easier for foreign investors to hold RMB and invest in RMB-denominated assets.

Still, compared with China's global economic and trade share, the RMB has room to grow in international payments and financing. According to Standard Chartered's RMB Globalization Index (RGI), the index rose roughly 63 percent from January 2022 to August 2025. While exchange rates still fluctuate, the index now shows a more independent, mature trend, reflecting clearer policy direction and the expansion of RMB usage overseas.

 

Jiemian News: What observations and suggestions does Standard Chartered have for further promoting RMB internationalization?

Lu: Standard Chartered has long prioritized RMB internationalization. In overseas markets, we see real demand for the RMB and leverage our network to coordinate domestic and overseas markets, encourage corporate RMB usage, and build practical experience. We also engage with regulators and promote the RMB's advantages, helping them follow policy trends and market innovations.

The current low-interest-rate environment continues to drive cross-border and offshore RMB loan demand. Combined with FX risk management tools, this supports wider international RMB use.

In addition to using non-resident and Shanghai Free Trade Zone accounts to provide cross-border loans and risk management solutions, Standard Chartered reallocates Hong Kong's stable RMB liquidity to branches in ASEAN, Africa, and the Middle East. This meets local demand and helps more overseas companies conduct business in RMB.

 

Jiemian News: Recently, Standard Chartered signed a memorandum of understanding with Alibaba to strengthen cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). How does Standard Chartered view the impact of AI on the financial industry? What AI projects are currently being implemented?

Lu: Today, AI technologies – especially generative AI – are transforming business models and reshaping the future of finance. However, applying AI in finance requires extreme caution. Data privacy and security must be the foundation, and responsible governance must serve as the baseline.

As an early adopter of AI, Standard Chartered has established a comprehensive Responsible AI (RAI) framework. This framework covers nine major areas, including accountability, data suitability, fairness, ethics, transparency, robustness, reproducibility, observability, and operational capabilities. It also sets requirements for AI-related data and information security. Currently, all AI applications must pass assessments under this Responsible AI framework before being deployed.

Overall, our AI applications primarily focus on information extraction, customer due diligence, and intelligent office solutions, while we continue to explore new use cases. Leveraging data analytics, machine learning, and generative AI, we enhance efficiency in business operations and office workflows, and actively explore partnerships with leading tech companies such as Alibaba. This enables us to provide clients with more personalized and efficient services while improving employee experience and productivity.

In business operations, we use both external and client data to train models for more accurate analysis. In customer due diligence, generative AI assists in preliminary analysis, which – when combined with internal data – significantly shortens report preparation time. Yet the accuracy of the data remains critical, so human review is still required.

For intelligent office applications, we have developed a range of tools. Additionally, we are establishing AI technology centers in the Greater Bay Area, comprising multiple group-level AI and data teams. These centers will build the ecosystem for deploying AI infrastructure and applications across the Group.