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Enoch Yiu

Hong Kong’s record-breaking insurance sales may face headwinds as mainland China visitors struggle to transfer large sums across the border to buy policies, after Beijing and the city’s regulators tightened rules, according to industry players and analysts.
A spokeswoman for the Insurance Authority said the regulator was closely monitoring cross-border sales. “The Insurance Authority has been maintaining close communication with relevant mainland authorities on various regulatory matters, including issues relating to non-compliant cross-boundary sales activities,” she said in a statement to the South China Morning Post on Friday.
On May 22, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) instructed banks to require prospective customers to declare that funds used in investment accounts had originated outside mainland China.
The move is part of Beijing’s broader campaign to strengthen oversight of capital flows as it looks to redirect funding back to its domestic stock market.
On the same day, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced fines totalling more than US$330 million on three online brokerages, including Futu Holdings and Tiger Brokers, for operating on the mainland without licences.

“These new control measures are expected to have an impact on the local insurance sector, which has relied heavily on mainland visitors to buy policies in recent years,” said Tom Chan Pak-lam, honorary president of the Institute of Securities Dealers.
Chan said the measures underscored Beijing’s concern about capital outflows as wealthy mainland investors channelled funds into Hong Kong stocks and insurance products in search of better returns and broader choice.
Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a strategist at Everbright Securities International, however, said the CSRC crackdown was more focused on stock trading.
“The focus on the recent crackdown was more related to illegal cross-border stock investments, which are not expected to have a big impact on the insurance sector,” Ng said.
Life insurance sales in Hong Kong rose more than 50 per cent to nearly HK$331 billion (US$42 billion) in new life policies in 2025, compared with HK$219 billion a year earlier, also a record, according to Insurance Authority data.
Mainland visitors were a major driver of the record sales, according to industry players.
In 2024, the last time the Insurance Authority disclosed mainland figures, cross-border buyers spent HK$62.8 billion on life and medical insurance products in Hong Kong, accounting for nearly 29 per cent of overall sales. The Insurance Authority did not disclose last year’s mainland visitor sales as it is reviewing the definition.

The 2024 tally was the second-highest on record after HK$72.7 billion in 2016, before such sales dropped after Beijing tightened payment restrictions, including a November 2016 move by UnionPay – China’s largest credit card payment network – to ban mainland customers from using its platform to buy investment-related insurance policies in Hong Kong.
The Covid-19 pandemic further disrupted sales, as mainland visitors were unable to cross the border from 2020 to 2022 to buy policies in person – a requirement under local rules – while Hong Kong agents could not go north to sell them.
Demand has rebounded since the border reopened in 2023. Mainland visitor arrivals rose 11 per cent to 37.8 million last year, making up 76 per cent of total tourists, according to data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
HSBC Life, the insurance arm of the city’s biggest lender, has been the top insurer for four consecutive years, while BOC Life, part of Bank of China (Hong Kong), is also a leading player.
Chan said the HKMA regulation would affect not only bank-linked insurers but also others since mainland visitors must use Hong Kong’s banking system to transfer funds for payments.
An executive at a major insurer said the requirement may not affect smaller policies as mainlanders could remit up to US$50,000 annually for overseas investment, while the average policy size is about US$20,000. But high-net-worth customers could be affected as they would struggle to move larger sums out of China, the executive added.
Major insurers including HSBC Life, BOC Life, Manulife and AIA all declined to comment.
The Insurance Authority spokeswoman said the regulator had required insurers since 2016 to collect travel records or other documents to verify that mainland visitors were physically present in Hong Kong at the time of purchase.
In 2024, the Insurance Authority joined forces with the Independent Commission Against Corruption to crack down on unlicensed cross-border sales.
Selina Lau Pui-ling, CEO of Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI), said local firms always complied with all requirements.
“Insurers in Hong Kong operate in accordance with the relevant regulatory requirements, and HKFI remains committed to working with the relevant regulators and stakeholders to maintain Hong Kong’s status as an international finance centre,” she said.


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Insurers brace for impact from stricter cross-border rules, with the Insurance Authority stepping up oversight of mainland visitor purchases


Insurers brace for impact from stricter cross-border rules, with the Insurance Authority stepping up oversight of mainland visitor purchases.


Hong Kong’s insurance boom risks cooling as regulators curb mainland China fund flows

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Insurers brace for impact from stricter cross-border rules, with the Insurance Authority stepping up oversight of mainland visitor purchases

Insurers brace for impact from stricter cross-border rules, with the Insurance Authority stepping up oversight of mainland visitor purchases