China’s economy presents long-term growth potential and attractive opportunities for overseas companies and investors, according to Nuno Matos, CEO of Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC Group,

Matos was speaking in a recent written interview with Xinhua news agency.

The banker said that, looking back to 2022, Chinese and Asian markets have shown strong resilience, and the recovery of China’s economy from the impact of the pandemic is “occurring at a faster pace than expected, laying a solid foundation for 2023”.

Matos said HSBC Group had recently raised its forecast for China’s economic growth to 5.6 per cent in 2023, from the original 5.0 per cent, while expecting a rebound in consumption to be the main driver of growth in China, particularly in the services sector.

HSBC Group, Matos added, expects China’s household wealth to grow by around 8.5 per cent annually in the next few years, with investable household assets topping 300 trillion yuan (about US$43.5 trillion) in 2025, “providing a good wealth base for the development of Chinese society”.

The banker also said China has been committed to opening its financial sector and developing a sustainable, innovative economy over many years.

“We welcome measures that promote the opening-up of the financial services sector. The number of foreign investors and the volume of foreign investment in China have both increased as a result,” he said.

He believes that foreign investment can play a critical role in developing green financial markets and that “the depth of China’s capital markets underpins its ambition of becoming a global leader in this space”.

Matos noted that accelerating the expansion of wealth, private banking, insurance and asset management businesses is a strategic priority for HSBC in the Chinese mainland. These areas have achieved solid business momentum in recent years.

“HSBC’s commitment to supporting China’s continued economic growth and internationalisation remains as strong as ever – and is still growing,” Matos said.