Chinese securities firms have been making frequent moves in overseas markets recently, further accelerating their internationalization pace.
According to statistics, since the beginning of 2026, 13 Chinese securities firms have increased capital or established new subsidiaries to strengthen their Hong Kong platforms, with a combined investment of approximately 55 billion yuan. Among them, six leading brokerages accounted for nearly 90% of the total capital increase, while several small and medium-sized firms are also using Hong Kong as a starting point to accelerate cross-border business expansion.
Meanwhile, overseas business revenue of listed brokerages has grown rapidly, with more Chinese securities firms appearing in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia beyond Hong Kong. Their internationalization layout is characterized by increased capital investment, broadened business scope, and expanded regional coverage.
Several brokerages stated in interviews that Hong Kong remains the core hub of their internationalization strategy. In the future, they will focus on Chinese enterprises going global and global asset allocation needs, seize opportunities from opening-up, strengthen domestic and overseas business synergies, and explore broader global layouts while deepening their presence in Hong Kong.
55 Billion Yuan Boost for Hong Kong as Chinese Brokerages Accelerate Going Global
As an important bridge connecting the mainland and international markets, Hong Kong has become the starting point for most Chinese securities firms' overseas expansion and the core platform for their international business development, thanks to its mature financial market and regulatory system.
According to public information, as of the first half of 2026, 30 of the 42 A-share listed securities companies have established international subsidiaries in Hong Kong. Since the beginning of this year, 13 Chinese securities firms have announced plans or implemented capital increases for their Hong Kong subsidiaries, with a total amount of approximately 55 billion yuan.
Among them, capital increases by leading brokerages are particularly prominent. CITIC Securities, Guotai Haitong, Huatai Securities, China Merchants Securities, GF Securities, and CICC together contributed approximately 48.5 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 90% of the total.
CITIC Securities was the most aggressive. In May this year, it announced a private placement of 794 million H-shares to its largest shareholder CITIC Financial Holdings, raising 16 billion yuan, all of which will be used to increase capital in CITIC Securities International to support international business development. CITIC Securities Chairman Zou Yingguang said at the interim results briefing that the first batch of 10 billion yuan equivalent in Hong Kong dollars was in place on August 14, and this capital increase will ease capital constraints on overseas business development, consolidate Hong Kong market competitive advantages, and enhance global competitiveness and resource allocation capabilities.
Huatai Securities plans to increase capital in its Hong Kong subsidiary by no more than 9 billion Hong Kong dollars, also a relatively large increase. Huatai Securities told reporters that Huatai International, as the company's international business platform, will be based in Hong Kong and connected globally, relying on a globally integrated platform covering investment banking, equity business, FICC, wealth management, and investment management to provide clients with cross-border investment and development services.
Not only leading institutions, but small and medium-sized brokerages such as GLMS SEC, Soochow Securities, and Shanxi Securities are also accelerating their Hong Kong business layout. Compared with the large capital investments of leading institutions, the capital increases of small and medium-sized brokerages are mostly between 500 million and 2 billion Hong Kong dollars, focusing on improving overseas license configurations and gradually building cross-border business platforms.
On September 30, Guolian Minsheng Securities Company Limited's capital increase for Guolian Hong Kong received a no-objection letter from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Regarding follow-up arrangements, Guolian Minsheng Securities Company Limited responded that the capital increase still needs to complete overseas investment project filing procedures, and the funds will be put in place in batches according to business development needs and market conditions. After the capital increase is completed, Guolian Hong Kong will focus on cross-border boutique investment banking, FICC and derivatives, and cross-border asset management, serving Chinese enterprises going global and global clients' asset allocation needs through a "investment banking + trading + custody + asset management" synergy model.
Overseas Business Becomes New Growth Engine, Concentration Among Leaders Intensifies
According to interim report data disclosed this year, the overseas business revenue of Chinese securities firms continues to expand, further enhancing its contribution to overall revenue. Wind data shows that in the first half of 2026, a total of 17 listed brokerages disclosed overseas business revenue, totaling approximately 34.308 billion yuan, an increase of about 70% from 20.229 billion yuan in the same period last year.
Among them, six brokerages had overseas revenue exceeding 1 billion yuan in the first half, totaling 31.449 billion yuan, accounting for about 92% of the total overseas revenue of the 17 brokerages, up from 89% in the same period last year, further highlighting the concentration among leaders.
CITIC Securities continued to lead with overseas business revenue of 11.788 billion yuan in the first half, the only listed brokerage with overseas revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan. CITIC Securities CFO Zhang Hao said that in the first half, the company's overseas business revenue contribution ratio was 23.72%, with a gross margin of 74.46%, and revenue growth and profitability levels were higher than domestic operations, showing good development potential.
In terms of growth rate, five brokerages saw overseas business revenue grow by more than 70% year-on-year in the first half, with Guotai Haitong leading the industry with an increase of 121.27%. After completing the absorption merger, the integration effect of Guotai Haitong's international business continued to be released, with overseas business revenue reaching 5.442 billion yuan in the first half, ranking third in the industry.
At the same time, the contribution of international business to brokerages' overall performance is also increasing. In the first half, CICC's overseas business revenue was 5.966 billion yuan, up 48.24% year-on-year, accounting for about one-third of total revenue; CITIC Securities's overseas revenue accounted for more than 20%, while Huatai Securities, Guotai Haitong, and China Galaxy all had overseas revenue ratios above 10%.
In terms of profitability, CICC International's net profit contributed 49.42% to the group's net profit attributable to shareholders in the first half, while CITIC International and Huatai International each accounted for around 25%.
Liu Yuchen, chief non-bank financial analyst at Guolian Minsheng Securities Company Limited, pointed out that from a medium-to-long-term perspective, Chinese securities firms' overseas business has significant room for development and is expected to become an important profit growth direction for the industry. Due to differences in domestic and overseas capital regulatory rules and business structures, overseas business has relatively higher added value. Expanding overseas business not only helps enrich revenue structures but also helps smooth performance cyclical fluctuations.
China Securities Co., Ltd. told reporters that Chinese securities firms started their internationalization relatively late and still lag behind leading international investment banks in terms of capital scale and business categories. However, their differentiated advantage lies in deep experience in the Chinese market and close ties with various sectors in the mainland, which can serve as a window for Chinese enterprises going global and foreign capital coming in. As high-level opening-up continues to advance, Hong Kong and Belt and Road markets both offer broad business opportunities.
Continuous Exploration of Emerging Markets, Internationalization Advancing in Depth
With Hong Kong as the core hub of international operations, Chinese securities firms are also continuously extending to more overseas regions. The Middle East and Central Asia have become important directions for brokerages to explore new markets.
Recently, China Securities Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation memorandum of understanding with the UAE Ministry of Investment, and its subsidiary China Securities International obtained a Dubai International Financial Centre license in October and was approved to establish a Dubai representative office; Guotai Haitong's subsidiary Guotai Junan International signed a cooperation memorandum with the Almaty city government in Kazakhstan in September, planning long-term cooperation in cross-border financing and other areas.
China Securities Co., Ltd. stated that choosing the Middle East as one of the key regions for overseas expansion is both a strategic consideration for serving national high-level opening-up and Belt and Road cooperation, and also related to increased client demand for business expansion and financing in the Middle East, as well as local demand for allocating Chinese assets. With the establishment of the Dubai representative office, the company is exploring cooperation opportunities with banks, sovereign funds, and other financial institutions in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, focusing on offshore RMB bond issuance and related businesses.
At the same time, the layout in Southeast Asian markets is also deepening. In March this year, Huatai Securities established two-way research report cooperation with Vietnam's SSI Securities, and in May reached a strategic cooperation with Indonesia's BNI Securities. Huatai Securities said this created a new two-way cooperation model of "Chinese investment research going global + Southeast Asian research expanding inward," promoting the construction of a "China-ASEAN" two-way research service ecosystem.
Huatai Securities stated that on the basis of deepening its presence in Hong Kong, it will continue to expand into mature markets such as the United States, Singapore, and Japan, while actively布局 Southeast Asia and other emerging markets with growth potential. Among them, Singapore will continue to serve as an important strategic fulcrum radiating into Southeast Asia, and the company will also关注 opportunities in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Middle East.
Huatai Securities further pointed out that the core of internationalization capability is not just the expansion of overseas licenses and branch numbers, but whether it can integrate global capital and client resources to form integrated customer service, product creation, risk management, and operational management capabilities both domestically and internationally. The company said that the current focus of internationalization development is gradually shifting from pure regional layout expansion to capability building and value creation.
Regarding new business expansion for brokerages going global, a relevant person in charge at China Merchants Securities told reporters that in recent years, as the private equity industry's overseas expansion pace has significantly accelerated, but firms generally face practical difficulties in license applications, fund establishment, and operational implementation, China Merchants Securities's custody department and China Merchants Securities International launched a comprehensive overseas expansion solution that can provide one-stop overseas fund administration services for these entities. "Currently, we have served more than 120 fund products and over 70 clients, covering hundreds of private equity firms that have gone global or plan to do so," the person in charge said.
With overseas business revenue continuing to grow and overseas layouts continuously extending, the internationalization of Chinese securities firms is accelerating into a new stage of in-depth expansion. From increasing capital to enhance Hong Kong platform construction to actively exploring emerging markets, brokerages are continuously strengthening domestic and overseas business synergies and exploring differentiated regional layouts according to local conditions. This will not only help broaden industry development space but also provide more solid and powerful financial support for Chinese enterprises' high-quality going global and cross-border capital two-way flows.