For the first time, Hong Kong narrowly overtook Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border booking centre, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), published this week.

Cross-border wealth rose 10.7% in 2025 to $2.9trn, driven by mainland China flows and a local stock market that delivered significant IPO activity and strong gains in benchmark-heavy internet platforms.

Mainland flows represent more than 60% of assets under management in Hong Kong, which is “cementing its role as China’s gateway to global markets”, the report found.

Hong Kong’s Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA) reacted to the news in a statement expressing that it was “greatly encouraged by Hong Kong’s achievement in becoming the world’s largest cross-border wealth management centre for the first time, which is the result of the collective efforts of the industry and the government in recent years.

“As a safe, stable, and sophisticated international financial centre, Hong Kong continues to take advantage of its ‘Super Connector’ and ‘Super Value-Adder’ roles, offering investors in Hong Kong a wide range of international investment options and serving as a safe haven for capital amid geopolitical volatility.”

The PWMA noted that the Hong Kong government had “introduced a number of favourable measures, including expanding preferential tax regimes, enhancing market efficiency, developing high-end art trading and international gold trading markets, as well as advancing the internationalisation of the renminbi.”

The BCG report also concluded that Singapore is positioned as the most diversified wealth hub in Asia, “serving as a neutral conduit between Asian and Western capital markets”.

The city-state has benefited from safe-haven flows amid US-China tensions, while regulatory stability, institutional credibility, and a strong wealth management ecosystem have attracted over 2,000 single-family offices and more than 100 independent wealth management firms.

“Across booking centres, wealth creation is becoming more equity driven, favouring regions with strong capital markets and deep investment ecosystems,” said the report.

“At the same time, geopolitical fragmentation is reinforcing the emergence of two hub networks, one anchored by Hong Kong and Singapore that serves mainland Chinese, Indian, and Southeast Asian capital, and one anchored by Switzerland, the US, and the UK, serving European, Middle Eastern, and Latin American wealth,” it said.

Worldwide, cross-border wealth rose 8.4% to $15.7trn in 2025, boosted by strong market performance and greater demand for geographical diversification. The top ten booking centres took almost 90% of new cross-border flows, according to BCG.