Korea and Singapore have seen the strongest demand for the RQFII scheme outside Hong Kong and have been rewarded with extra quota, while other markets are kept waiting.
The nation's mutual fund industry recorded 29% growth in AUM to $449 billion at end-2012, but look deeper and you'll find a market increasingly dominated by bank-backed managers.
Bank of China aims to cover China's 32 provinces within three years and to build out in HK and Singapore, as it points to a trend for Chinese clients to use domestic, not foreign, firms.