For overseas financial companies looking to break into China’s vast private investment funds market, Beijing’s recent vow to let them compete directly with local private funds still seems a distant promise. JPMorgan Chase received Beijing’s permission this month to establish a wholly owned asset management subsidiary – the first of its kind on the mainland – in Shanghai’s free trade zone. Caixin reports the firm was also on track to be the first beneficiary of a groundbreaking regulatory change that would allow foreign private fund managers to sell products in China and, more importantly, buy Chinese stock for its clients. But the plan did not pan out. Instead, the bank will opt for an existing pilot program that allows foreign institutions to raise money from Chinese investors but invest the funds abroad.