China’s Overseas Trading Curbs Reach Brokerage Accounts in Hong Kong

Beijing, 29 September 2026 – Chinese brokerages are tightening restrictions on some mainland clients’ use of Hong Kong accounts to trade overseas shares, extending a campaign against unlicensed cross-border securities activity. Recent customer notices described bans on new purchases and incoming fund transfers for affected accounts. The reported measures concern access through particular channels; they should not be described as a general ban on all overseas holdings by every Chinese investor.

Orient Securities’ Hong Kong arm notified mainland-based clients that they would be barred from buying shares and transferring in funds from Wednesday, according to the reported customer notices. Guotai Junan International also told affected onshore investors they could no longer add to stock positions through overseas accounts starting this week. These are changes to future activity, not evidence that existing assets have been confiscated or that every customer must immediately sell.