Macau emerges as one of Asia’s leading bond markets: MOX

Macau’s bond market has evolved into one of Asia’s major hubs for bond issuance, with the total value of bonds issued and listed in the city surpassing MOP1 trillion (US$124.6 billion), said Chongwa (Macau) Financial Asset Exchange (MOX).

Zhang Weichun, executive chairman and president of MOX, the city’s first financial institution dedicated to bond services, made the remarks at a financial industry seminar organised by the Securities and Funds Industry Association of Macau (SFA) on Monday.

As of the end of 2025, the cumulative value of bonds issued and listed on MOX reached MOP1.06 trillion, with yuan-denominated bonds accounting for MOP477.58 billion. Last year alone, Macau saw bond listings worth MOP252.85 billion, marking a 5.4 percent year-on-year increase.

Since MOX’s establishment in late 2018, the market has expanded more than 200-fold, driven largely by bond issuances from mainland Chinese enterprises and government entities, Zhang highlighted.

He even noted Macau has become a significant player in Asia’s debut international bond issuance landscape. “Macau now ranks among the top three in Asia, behind only Mainland China and Japan, and ahead of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan,” he said.

Macau’s bond market is also attracting a growing pool of international investors, including monetary authorities, financial institutions, and fund managers from jurisdictions such as Portugal, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand, alongside those from Mainland China and Hong Kong, Zhang indicated.

“So far, we’ve achieved relatively steady progress,” he added. “With continued effort, I believe Macau can become one of the most influential bond markets in Asia and globally.”

With about 47 percent of bonds issued in US dollars and 45 percent in yuan, Macau is also playing a growing role in the internationalisation of the Chinese currency, supported by increasing bond market connectivity with Hong Kong, he remarked.

Push for modernisation

Also speaking at the event, Simon Vong Sin Man, acting chairman of the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM), said the financial regulator is accelerating efforts to modernise and diversify the city’s financial industry with focuses in bonds, wealth management, and financial technology.

For the development of the local bond market, he said AMCM is gradually upgrading the city’s central securities depository (CSD) system, strengthening cross-border connectivity with Hong Kong, and promoting the regular issuance of both sovereign and municipal bonds in Macau.

Efforts are also underway to facilitate deeper integration with mainland and international markets, Vong added.

In the wealth management sector, the official pointed to the newly revised Investment Funds Law, which came into effect at the start of the year, aligning Macau’s regulatory framework more closely with international standards and enhancing the foundation for the fund industry’s development.

“The Macau government is also working on the establishment of two guidance funds, channelling financial resources from banking, insurance, and private equity into the development of industrial chains,” he added. “This initiative aims to align industrial and fiscal policies to foster a new model of coordinated development in Macau.”

He referred to two government-led funds set to be established this year to support economic diversification: the Industrial Development Fund and the Technology Guidance Fund.

Lu Jian, president of the SFA and chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau), said on Monday that the city’s financial infrastructure has made “continuous strides” in recent years.

The SFA, with 53 corporate members, has played a key role in shaping Macau’s bond and fund markets, growing them from the ground up and achieving significant results, Lu remarked.

Young investors

The Monday seminar also marked the inauguration of the SFA’s new executive committee, attended by Macau government officials, including Secretary for Economy and Finance Tai Kin Ip.

Speaking at the event on Macau’s wealth management sector, Liu Lei, general manager of ICBC (Macau) Capital, an investment arm of ICBC Macau, revealed that the city now has over 550,000 wealth management accounts, with more than 120,000 classified as high-net-worth. Around 90 percent of these accounts are held by local residents, while the remaining 10 percent are primarily from Mainland China and Hong Kong.

About 35 percent of these portfolios are allocated to securities and funds, a sign of the “generally conservative investment approach” among Macau residents, he highlighted.

However, a shift might be underway. “We’re also observing a growing trend of younger investors becoming a dominant force in wealth management. Their portfolios are more diversified and globally oriented,” Liu said.

These younger investors are increasingly favouring public funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and structured equity products, with particular interest in global equity funds and Asian bond funds, he illustrated.

To cater to this demographic, financial institutions in Macau are stepping up their use of digital tools. “With more young investors entering the market, there’s a clear preference for leveraging IT solutions to manage their finances,” he added.