BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's securities regulator on Friday approved Citigroup's plan to establish a wholly-owned securities company in the country, the latest step in the country's broader push to open the financial sector wider to foreign institutions.
The approval allows the U.S. firm to offer capital markets services in China, including equities brokerage, securities investment advisory, securities underwriting and proprietary securities trading, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement.
The firm, Citigroup Securities (China) Company Limited, will be registered in Shanghai, with registered capital of 1.2 billion yuan (about 178.6 million U.S. dollars).
It will become the seventh wholly foreign-owned securities firm approved to operate in China, following J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, UBS, and Mizuho.
The approval will deepen Citi's long-standing presence in China, allowing the company to better support clients' growth and investment needs, Citi said in an online statement.
"We appreciate the support from regulators to expand our offering in this important market," said Jane Fraser, chair of the board and chief executive officer of Citi. "By adding onshore capabilities to our global platform, we will be able to do more for clients in China's domestic capital markets," she said.
Since the beginning of this year, Citi has helped Chinese clients raise more than 40 billion U.S. dollars in global capital markets, the company said.
The approval came amid China's sustained push to open its financial sector. Since 2020, the CSRC has removed foreign ownership caps on securities firms, fund managers and futures companies, enabling foreign institutions to operate wholly-owned licensed entities.
With policy support, global investment banks have moved from joint ventures to wholly owned operations to tap into the Chinese market, with J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs among the first to complete the transition.
Last year, UBS completed its shift to full ownership of its securities unit in China, while Mizuho Securities later obtained approval, further expanding the ranks of wholly foreign-owned brokerages in China.
"The entry of foreign brokerages into China has enriched the competitive landscape of the domestic securities market and reflects foreign institutions' long-term confidence in the Chinese market," said Yang Jingdong, a member of the executive committee at Ping An Securities.
This will push domestic firms to accelerate efforts to strengthen wealth management, derivatives and cross-border investment banking, improve services and better serve the development of the real economy, Yang said.
In a recent interview with Xinhua, Maria Ramos, group chair of Standard Chartered, said that China's orderly advancement of financial opening up has created tangible opportunities for Standard Chartered's China-related business, particularly in RMB internationalization, the global expansion of Chinese corporates, cross-border trade, green finance and wealth management.
Between 2020 and 2026, the bank invested almost 600 million U.S. dollars in China, and Ramos said it would continue to invest in its China franchise and technology. "We are aiming to turn our confidence in China into tangible action on the ground," she said.
In another sign of China's financial opening up, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, has approved a subsidiary of U.S. payment giant Visa to set up a bank card clearing institution in China. Visa described this move as "a milestone toward the company serving China's domestic payments market."
During the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2026 held in Beijing this week, CSRC Chairman Wu Qing reaffirmed the country's commitment to expanding high-level opening up.
The CSRC will encourage foreign institutions to leverage their parent companies' expertise and group strengths to further improve product offerings and participate in innovative businesses in China, he said. ■
