Strong local demand for wealth products

Sales of individual wealth management products shot up in the last quarter of 2007 and may reach a total of US$137 billion, as more mutual funds, insurance products and offshore investments became available to Chinese consumers, the Financial Times reported. By the end of September, there were 60 banking institutions offering wealth management products and, in the first thee quarters of 2007, products worth a combined total of US$82.5 billion were sold, according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission. Last year many large international banks – such as Standard Chartered, UBS and HSBC – started offering private banking services available to clients with US$1 million or more to invest.