China’s market for bank wealth management products (WMP) saw robust growth in 2021, while further adjusting to the requirements of new asset management rules launched at the start of 2018.
As of the end of 2021 China’s bank WMP market hit 29 trillion yuan, for year-on-year growth of 12.14%, according to figures from the “China Banking Sector Wealth Management Market Annual Report (2021)” (中国银行业理财市场年度报告（2021年）) released by the Banking Wealth Management Registration and Custody Centre (银行业理财登记托管中心) on 26 February.
The Report said that 2021 was the final year for the transitional period outlined for new asset management rules implemented in 2018, and that banking sector wealth management operations had since seen a “return to their original purpose, structural optimisation, and increases in quality and efficiency.”
As of the end of 2021 the net-value WMP balance was 26.96 trillion yuan, accounting for 92.97% of outstanding WMP’s, and increasing by 23.89 trillion yuan compared to the balance just prior to the release of the new asset management regulations 2018.
The non-net value WMP balance was 2.04 trillion yuan, for a reduction of 16.39 trillion yuan compared to prior to the release of the new rules.
Interbank WMP’s have also fallen, dropping to just 54.1 billion yuan as of the end of 2021, for a decline of 97.52% compared to their levels prior to the release of the new asset management regulations.