China’s financial openness: Standard Chartered on access, the yuan and cross-border investment
Opening financial markets is always a balance between capital inflow and systemic stability. China is consistently expanding access for foreign institutions, internationalizing the yuan and deepening cross-border channels. For global banks, this is not just a new market but a chance to help shape the financial architecture of the next decade.
The ongoing liberalization of China’s financial sector is creating new global and domestic growth opportunities by expanding institutional investor access, internationalizing the yuan (RMB) and deepening cross-border investment channels, said Benjamin Hung, international president of Standard Chartered Bank. Standard Chartered Bank was among the first group of foreign banks registered in China in 2007, and since then the global financial giant has obtained multiple licenses, expanding its presence in the country.
“Now we can work with retail clients. We have licenses for RMB operations. If you look at the significance of all these licenses, essentially they help us better prepare to help multinational corporations enter the Chinese market, and increasingly help Chinese corporations go beyond it. China remains a very growing economy that has not yet fully opened up to new financial services, including RMB capital operations. And I think phenomenal opportunities lie ahead,” Hung said.
Hung said that while China still runs a deficit in services trade, the country is working to reduce it by providing more high-quality services to the rest of the world. “Over the past 30 years, China has achieved a true miracle in infrastructure development in terms of its ability to build it. In planning, financing and operating infrastructure, it has no equal. Now, if you compare this with many emerging markets, you can see an acute need for infrastructure expansion. And this is where China can start exporting this know-how and knowledge to emerging markets,” he said. Hung was in Beijing for the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), which opened on Wednesday in the Chinese capital and will run for five days.
As reported by CCTV+, the liberalization of China’s financial sector and statements by international bankers underscore the growing openness of the Chinese market and its integration into the global financial system. Further expansion of access for foreign institutions and RMB internationalization are expected to open new opportunities for both global and Chinese companies.
