BEIJING—For as long as Chen Qinye could remember, Chinese couldn’t invest overseas without overcoming language barriers and a quagmire of rules. That changed for the 30-year-old bank employee in December, when he tested one of a new generation of smartphone apps aimed at connecting China’s small-time investors with U.S. markets. A three-minute registration process and a $500 overnight transfer later, he was a shareholder in U.S.-traded Chinese firms Yirendai Ltd. and Noah Holdings Ltd. ...
A new wave of smartphone apps are giving Chinese investors access to the US equity market. Photograph: Previously, Chinese investors could not invest overseas without overcoming language barriers and a quagmire or rules, however, apps such as JimuStocks, Tiger Broker and Niuniu give investors easy access to US equity markets after a registration process that only takes a few minutes. According to Boston Consulting Group, a reservoir of personal investable assets from China is set to grow to ¥196tn ($31tn) by the end of 2020 is at stake.