Take CCB. It has more than 14,700 branches; last year it managed 2.2trn yuan in wealth-management products and attracted more than 4.4m new investment and wealth-management clients.
The banks and their tens of thousands of branches were key intermediaries during the first era of wealth management and, say experts, may also define the next.
Had bricks-and-mortar banks played the " Pre-Mortem Game, " perhaps they would have heard their employees expressing some concerns about the gradually dwindling flow of customers to local branches.
A potential customer at a bank branch will be offered a suite of products, which will include those designed and branded by the joint ventures, but also those designed solely by the bank.