Mainland China’s funds flood Hong Kong as ‘Southbound’ capital doubles to US$110.4 billion



Southbound capital flowing into the Hong Kong stock market hit an all-time high in the first seven months of 2025, reflecting investor confidence in the city on the back of surging turnover and a revived pipeline of initial public offerings (IPOs).

Mainland Chinese investors snapped up more Hong Kong equities so far this year than in all of 2024, as southbound flows hit HK$866.8 billion (US$110.4 billion) up to July, according to data compiled by Wind. That was already 107 per cent of last year’s total.

The sharp increase in mainland buying came as trading and fundraising activity in the city rebounded strongly after a multi-year slump. The southbound trades via the Stock Connect programme accounted for 23.1 per cent of total turnover on the Hong Kong stock exchange in the first six months of 2025, up from 18.3 per cent from a year earlier, according to a midyear review released by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on Thursday.

Net purchases via the southbound channel during the first half of the year reached HK$731.2 billion – equivalent to 91 per cent of the total for all of 2024, the report showed. All told, the southbound scheme brought in HK$4.42 trillion as of the end of June 30 since its inception, according to the report.

By contrast, in the northbound channel, the average daily turnover fell to 171.3 billion yuan (US$23.8 billion) in the first half of this year, with its share of total mainland market turnover dipping to 6.3 per cent from 7.1 per cent a year earlier.

Kenny Ng, a strategist at Everbright Securities International, said the inflow trend was likely to persist as structural factors continue to drive demand.

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