(Yicai Global) April 3 -- After Hong Kong reopened its border with the Chinese mainland two months ago, the bulk of the mainlanders headed to the special administrative region went to open bank and cross-border wealth management accounts, according to the findings of a new survey.

About 60 percent of Chinese mainlanders who headed to Hong Kong soon after movement across the border was fully reopened on Feb. 6 said their visit was for personal financial reasons, the survey found.

Appointments made by mainland customers are surging, while investment and insurance product sales have started to recover since the border reopened and the market returned to normal, according to Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has rediscovered its capacity to attract more funds even than Singapore, Li Feng, vice president of Standard Chartered Bank China, said in a recent interview with Yicai Global.

Funds transferred by Standard Chartered Bank’s clients to Hong Kong via Licaitong, a service enabling investors to directly open and operate cross-border investment accounts, soared over 40 percent in February from a month earlier, indicating rising demand for cross-border wealth management products among residents of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Moreover, as Chinese firms speed up overseas investments, they create more opportunities for foreign banks. For example, offshore banks can offer personal financial services to overseas employees of Chinese companies, Li said.

Besides Hong Kong, member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and states in the Middle East are also popular destinations for Chinese companies.

“Chinese firms are likely to speed up their overseas business after the pandemic, and their senior executives and middle management will travel abroad, bringing opportunities for the corporate and retail businesses of foreign banks,” Li noted.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione