China presents attractive opportunities for foreign firms, investors, says banker

LONDON -- China's economy presents long-term growth potential and attractive opportunities for overseas companies and investors, said Nuno Matos, CEO of Wealth and Personal Banking of HSBC Group, in a recent written interview with Xinhua.

Matos said that looking back to 2022, China and Asian markets have shown strong resilience, adding that the recovery of China's economy from the impact of the pandemic is "occurring at a faster pace than expected, laying a solid foundation for 2023."

He said HSBC Group had recently raised its forecast for China's economic growth to 5.6 percent in 2023 from the original 5.0 percent while expecting a rebound in consumption to be the main driver of growth in China, particularly in the services sector.

HSBC Group also expected China's household wealth to grow by around 8.5 percent annually in the next few years, with investable household assets topping 300 trillion yuan ($43.5 trillion) in 2025, "providing a good wealth base for the development of Chinese society," Matos said.

The banker also said China has been committed to opening its financial sector and developing a sustainable, innovative economy over many years. "We welcome measures that promote the opening-up of the financial services sector. The number of foreign investors and the volume of foreign investment in China have both increased as a result," he said.

He believed that foreign investment can play a critical role in developing green financial markets and that "the depth of China's capital markets underpins its ambition of becoming a global leader in this space."

Matos noted that accelerating the expansion of wealth, private banking, insurance and asset management businesses is a strategic priority for HSBC in the Chinese mainland. These areas have achieved solid business momentum in recent years.

"HSBC's commitment to supporting China's continued economic growth and internationalization remains as strong as ever -- and is still growing," Matos said.