China's banking, private wealth management and capital market sectors will be the key focus points for foreign investment in the next five years, a new Mercer Oliver Wyman report has said.

The report said that the consolidation of banks and exchanges and innovation of financial products and services will be major factors driving growth in the financial services industry in the coming years.

"China has undertaken crucial legal and regulatory reforms to open its financial services industries to foreign investment, and further progress is anticipated," Vivien Lai, a director of the financial services firm, said.

The banking sector will see increasing consolidation with a changing regulatory environment. Another dynamic sector will be exchanges, which had the best performance of any sub-sector in the whole financial sector, according to the report.

"Following an active 2006, further evolution of the sector is expected as exchanges expand both across asset classes and across borders," the report said.

Exchange traded funds and retail structured products will be among the most important and popular products in the coming years, according to the report. For consumers, demand will grow for innovative equity release products that allow individuals to tap and manage illiquid wealth to provide cash flow.

"Emerging markets such as China have become critical to the success of leading global financial services firms. Given the diversity of opportunities within emerging markets and the spectrum of legal and regulatory risks involved, it is often important for firms to develop multiple emerging market strategies from onshore/offshore go-it-alone plays and partnerships to outright acquisitions of domestic incumbents," Lai said.

One of the key growth strategies for Chinese financial players is to look to foreign capital and expertise to help them prepare to compete in the global marketplace, the report said.

(China Daily May 4, 2007)