A recent thematic meeting of the Third International Business Committee of the Asset Management Association of China was held in Beijing, with 28 participants including committee members and association representatives. The meeting focused on constructing a narrative framework for China's investment value, delving into core questions such as "what to communicate," "where to communicate," "who communicates," and "where to target."
Participants indicated that the internationalization of China's fund industry requires synergistic opening with the industrial sector and a two-pronged effort. Simultaneously, the fund industry should adopt a global perspective, using diverse narratives to effectively convey China's investment value and support high-level institutional opening.
The meeting highlighted that the current level of internationalization in the fund industry still lags behind the internationalization process of Chinese industries. There is a need to promote synergistic opening and common development between the industry and industrial sectors with a higher stance and more concrete measures.
Some experts noted that when discussing international business, the fund industry should not focus solely on QDII quotas and overseas investments. Greater attention should be paid to the significant pull-through effect of overseas business on industries. The fund industry serves as a key bridge connecting domestic and international capital, supporting the development of the real economy and new productive forces, and plays a vital role in industrial development.
The meeting concluded that the internationalization of the fund industry should adhere to the concept of win-win cooperation, emphasizing both "bringing in" and "going global" as dual driving forces.
Regarding "bringing in," foreign institutions have actively expanded their business in China or invested in Chinese assets in recent years, steadily elevating the status and influence of China's asset management industry. A report released by Ernst & Young shows that as of the end of the third quarter of 2025, the total scale of China's asset management industry reached approximately 179.33 trillion yuan, firmly establishing it as the world's second-largest asset management market. Openness in the banking and insurance sectors has also expanded simultaneously, with foreign investment layouts continuing to deepen.
The meeting also recognized that, relative to the size of China's economy, Chinese assets remain under-represented in the portfolios of global investors. However, overseas investors' perception of Chinese assets has shifted from "whether to invest" to "how to invest."
Drawing on practical experience from long-term service to foreign institutions, a law firm cited the JPMorgan Fund mutual recognition business as a typical case study. After ten years of sustained investment, the fund's total scale in the mutual recognition business exceeded 80 billion yuan, capturing a market share of over 40%. This fully demonstrates the long-term value of commitment to the Chinese market, serving as a direct example and creating emotional resonance for overseas institutions still观望.
Recent practice shows that foreign capital's willingness to allocate to Chinese assets continues to strengthen. For instance, a fund company facilitated the listing of an MSCI China A50 Connect ETF on the Singapore Exchange via the ETF Connect mechanism, which has become one of the larger A-share ETFs under the Connect program. It also jointly launched a CSI 300 ETF in Brazil with a local asset manager, marking the first Sino-Brazil Connect transaction, and is advancing layouts in multiple markets including a potential China-Argentina Connect.
During client visits, another fund manager found that overseas investors' attention to China's advanced productivity has significantly increased. Long-term institutional investors, such as sovereign wealth funds, are showing growing interest in the complementarity between Chinese and international industries.
However, participating institutions also acknowledged that although foreign interest in China is rebounding, the actual proportion of Chinese assets in global investment portfolios remains severely low. While China's GDP accounts for approximately 18% of the global total, Chinese assets represent less than 3% of global capital allocation, indicating a significant allocation gap. Enhancing the narrative framework and communication capabilities is therefore crucial.
One fund manager stated that the weighting of Chinese stocks in the MSCI All Country World Index is less than 3%, whereas China's economy accounts for nearly 20% of global GDP. This significant disparity suggests that for any long-term capital seeking to share in global growth dividends, Chinese assets are gradually shifting from being an "option" to a "mandatory choice" in investment portfolios.
A representative from Ernst & Young also expressed that foreign institutions entering the Chinese market is not only a long-term trend but an inevitable choice. Driven by both industrial upgrading and reform dividends, the strategic allocation of international capital to the Chinese market has become an irreversible mega-trend.
The meeting emphasized that constructing a narrative for China's investment value must balance grand narratives with micro-level resonance, promoting an organic combination of top-down strategic guidance and bottom-up practical examples.
One fund company proposed that committee members should actively participate in international exchange conferences, upgrading from single roadshow models to planned, systematic annual thematic summit mechanisms. This would allow for systematic interpretation of Chinese policies and development blueprints, and enable the industry to represent China's voice in rule discussions and standard-setting processes.
Another firm suggested that the key to telling China's story well lies in adopting a "China story from a global perspective" framework, organically integrating mega-trends, vivid case studies, and core issues that resonate. At the macro level, it is recommended to highlight China's technological leadership, noting that China ranks in the top two globally in approximately 30 out of 70细分 technology dimensions. At the micro level, improvements in the quality of life for Chinese residents, such as per capita protein intake, housing area, and healthcare beds, have reached levels comparable to OECD countries.
The head of international business at another asset manager noted that existing narratives often focus on mainstream indices like the CSI 300 or FTSE China A50. He suggested incorporating细分 sectors like advanced manufacturing and technology, as well as growth stock opportunities with richer alpha potential from mid-cap and STAR Market companies, into the narrative system to meet the allocation needs of different types of overseas investors.
From an equity investment perspective, another firm提炼 three specific narrative lines: First, China's full-stack AI capabilities, spanning from chips, models, talent, energy to downstream applications, making China one of only two countries globally with such comprehensive capabilities, and its open-source approach offers better cost-effectiveness,更适合 developing countries' needs. Second, the liquidity and relative independence of the A-share market, supported by the ongoing release of approximately 40 trillion yuan in excess domestic savings, providing unique support distinct from other global stock markets. Third, vivid micro-level cases to help overseas investors form a direct perception of China's soft and hard power.
Using ESG narratives and pension security as examples, some institutions recommended conveying China's value using terminology and frameworks familiar to foreign audiences. For instance, it was cited that China's 5G data fees are only one-fifth of those in the US, cloud computing prices are a quarter, and express delivery costs are a sixth, fully demonstrating the outstanding social value contributions of Chinese enterprises. Such facts remain underexplored and are not yet systematically incorporated into ESG narratives. Additionally, China's thermal power plants lead globally in energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, with the lowest carbon emissions per kilowatt-hour, representing valuable material for green narratives.
Ernst & Young suggested that, beyond the existing three narrative directions of "serving technological innovation, green development, and the real economy," content specifically addressing pension security could be added, responding to the sustained interest of overseas long-term capital in China's aging economy and silver industry.
The timing of this meeting coincided with the National People's Congress sessions. This year's government work report reiterated the commitment to expanding high-level opening up, steadily advancing institutional opening, and using opening to promote reform and development, reinforcing the direction for the industry's internationalization.
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