【Epoch Times, September 29, 2026】 Following the footsteps of brokers such as Futu, Tiger, Changqiao, and Huasheng Securities tightening services for mainland Chinese clients, the Hong Kong brokerage firm Guotai Junan International with Chinese background has also joined the fray. Starting from September 26, they have restricted existing mainland Chinese clients from depositing money (transferring new funds) and buying stocks, but they can still sell existing holdings and withdraw funds.
Guotai Junan International adjusted its services for mainland Chinese investors starting from September 26. If an account logs in from a mainland Chinese IP address, it cannot deposit money or buy stocks, only withdraw funds and sell stocks; logging in from an overseas IP address is not affected. The relevant notice was issued on September 14.
Guotai Junan International stated that clients who obtain new identification documents and complete identity updates are not subject to the aforementioned restrictions if they hold overseas documents; even if they still hold Chinese nationality, logging in from an overseas IP address is not affected.
For clients located in mainland China, they can still hold existing stocks, sell stocks, and transfer funds, but they cannot add new funds or buy stocks through the account. In other words, the current restrictions mainly involve new overseas investments and do not require investors to immediately dispose of existing overseas assets.
This adjustment occurred after the Chinese government announced the crackdown on cross-border securities business on May 22. The eight departments including the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly issued the “Implementation Plan for the Comprehensive Cleanup of Illegal Cross-border Securities, Futures, and Fund Business Activities.”
The plan sets a two-year period for concentrated cleanup, aiming to crack down on the illegal operation of cross-border securities, futures, and fund businesses by overseas institutions in mainland China and “prudently clear up remaining issues.” During the cleanup period, overseas institutions are not allowed to provide buy transactions and fund transfers to domestic investors, only allowing sell transactions and fund transfers; after the cleanup period, domestic websites, trading software, and related services will be shut down.
Previously, brokers such as Futu, Tiger, and Changqiao, which were named by the China Securities Regulatory Commission for rectification, have started adjusting their services in mainland China. Now, Guotai Junan International has also implemented similar measures, extending the related restrictions from previously cross-border internet brokers to Hong Kong brokers with Chinese backgrounds. Guotai Junan International is a Hong Kong broker under the Guotai Haitong Group and announced a privatization arrangement in August this year.
Meanwhile, on May 22, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission required licensed securities firms to strengthen account opening and customer management. After reviewing 12 brokers, the Commission found that some institutions had deficiencies in account opening documents, cross-border agency relationships, and customer due diligence, and proposed additional monitoring measures for mainland investor accounts, including obtaining written declarations from investors and requiring fund settlements and deposits to be made into qualified bank accounts in the client’s name.
Regulatory measures in mainland China and Hong Kong are not identical policies, but objectively they have raised the threshold for mainland investors to invest overseas through Hong Kong brokers. For investors, not all overseas investments are currently prohibited, but the way in which they could previously directly deposit and purchase stocks through some overseas brokers is gradually being restricted.
It is worth noting that China’s regulation of overseas wealth extends beyond investment channels. In recent days, Bloomberg reported that the National Taxation Administration of China has set up a dedicated team to track the assets and taxes of wealthy individuals, with some teams even responsible for a single billionaire.
The mainland tax authorities have recently strengthened their monitoring of offshore trust-related tax issues and initiated tax collection actions against companies, with some wealthy individuals being required to settle tax liabilities related to offshore trusts by the end of October or face additional costs.
Reports indicate that some mainland Chinese citizens are expediting their applications for foreign passports, fearing that authorities may impose “exit taxes” on expatriates in the future; others are selling stocks or borrowing overseas to raise funds for tax payments.
One particular case drawing attention is the asset arrangement of Shu Ping, the wife of Zhang Yong, co-founder and chairman of Haidilao. In September, Shu Ping sold 259 million shares of Haidilao through a family trust, cashing out up to approximately HK$2.771 billion. Haidilao stated at the time that the transaction was based on the shareholder’s own financial needs and arrangements, and was a personal matter of the shareholder. However, Morgan Stanley speculated that this share reduction may be related to recent tightening of offshore trust tax regulations by the Chinese authorities.
These two measures by the Chinese authorities should not be directly viewed as the same policy, but taken together, one end involves strengthening tax tracking of wealthy individuals’ offshore trusts, overseas income, and assets, while the other end tightens channels for mainland investors to allocate new funds overseas through offshore brokers.
A recent analysis by Reuters Breakingviews believes that Beijing’s recent crackdown on offshore assets and offshore wealth focuses on increasing the transparency and traceability of funds and assets.