China’s September A-Share Account Openings Fall to a Yearly Monthly Low

Table of Contents

• You might want to know


• Main Topic


• Key Insights Table


• Afterwards...

You might want to know

• Why did A-share account openings fall to a new monthly low for the year in September, even though the first three quarters nearly matched the previous full-year total?


• What do steady margin-financing account openings and the latest brokerage forecasts suggest about the securities industry’s outlook?

Main Topic

Data disclosed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on October 9 show that 1.9119 million new A-share accounts were opened in September. That was a 20.25% decline from August and a 34.9% decrease from the same period a year earlier, marking the lowest monthly figure so far this year. The data point to a clear cooling in new investor registrations during the month, although they do not by themselves establish why each individual chose not to open an account.

The monthly slowdown contrasts with the cumulative total. In the first three quarters, A-share markets recorded 27.1259 million new accounts, close to the 27.4369 million opened in the whole of 2025. The comparison highlights the importance of distinguishing a short-term change in monthly activity from the broader year-to-date trend. September was weak in isolation, but the cumulative account-opening total remained substantial.

Market conditions provide relevant context. Major market indexes broadly retreated in September, and the source report suggests that the decline in new accounts may be associated with a temporary reduction in the market’s perceived profit-making appeal. Such a relationship should be treated as a possible explanation rather than definitive proof: account-opening figures and index movements can coincide without showing that one directly caused the other.

September’s headline figure was driven mainly by individual investors: 1.8997 million individual accounts were opened, while institutions opened 12,200. For the first time this year, individual account openings fell below 2 million. Institutional openings, by contrast, remained above 10,000, a level higher than that recorded in January, February, April, and May. These figures show that the monthly decline was not identical across investor categories.

The year’s monthly pattern has included pronounced rises and falls. January recorded the annual peak of 4.9158 million new accounts, during a period when the market was at a high. Openings then fell seasonally to 2.523 million in February before rebounding to 4.6014 million in March. From April through August, monthly figures were generally around 2.6 million, though they varied: 2.4913 million in April, 2.7653 million in May, 2.8646 million in June, 2.6554 million in July, and 2.3973 million in August. September’s 1.9119 million was the first monthly total below 2 million this year.

This sequence suggests that registrations have responded to changing market and seasonal conditions rather than following a straight upward or downward path. January and March were strong months, while February’s decline was described as seasonal. The subsequent months were comparatively stable around the 2.6 million range before September’s sharper drop. The year-to-date total nevertheless remained close to the previous full-year figure, underscoring how strong earlier months shaped the aggregate.

Margin-financing account openings offered a more stable signal in September. According to China Securities Index data, 108,900 new margin-financing and securities-lending accounts were opened that month, up 1.4% from 107,400 in August. Compared with 205,400 in the same period last year, however, the figure was down 46.98%. Month-to-month stability and a substantial year-on-year decline can therefore both describe the same data, depending on the comparison period.

At the end of September, the number of outstanding margin-financing and securities-lending accounts stood at 16.7678 million. This was an increase of 1.1276 million from 15.6402 million at the beginning of the year. At the same time, the market-wide average margin maintenance ratio fell to 268.38%, from 282.22% at the end of August. These measures describe different aspects of the market: account counts reflect participation in margin trading, while the maintenance ratio indicates the average collateral relationship reported for such accounts.

Brokerage earnings forecasts point to continued growth over the first three quarters, alongside pressure in the latest quarter. China International Capital Corporation (中金公司) forecast the combined third-quarter net profit attributable to parent-company shareholders of 42 listed brokerages at 78.2 billion yuan in 2026, up 15.5% year over year but down 17.1% quarter over quarter. For the first three quarters, the forecast combined attributable net profit was 233.4 billion yuan, an increase of 43.3% year over year. Adjusted combined revenue was projected at 542.1 billion yuan, up 30.2% year over year.

The different growth rates across comparison periods matter. A year-on-year increase compares performance with the same quarter or period a year earlier, while a quarter-on-quarter decline compares with the immediately preceding quarter. Accordingly, the forecast can indicate continued annual growth while also reflecting a sequential slowdown. The figures are projections, not reported final results, and should be read as expectations based on the information available to the forecasting institution.

Conditions in the first half of the year helped support brokerage activity. Major A-share indexes generally rose amid fluctuations, and trading activity remained elevated. This environment provided a favorable setting for businesses such as brokerage trading and proprietary investment. In the third quarter, the main indexes entered a period of adjustment and trading volumes receded from earlier levels. Reduced turnover can limit the responsiveness of trading commissions and certain other market-related revenue streams.

In that context, the outlook combines accumulated strength with more recent headwinds. The first three quarters may continue to benefit from earnings gains built up during the first half, while third-quarter results face pressure from a weaker market and comparison effects. The account-opening slowdown is one indicator of changing market participation, but brokerage results also depend on multiple business lines, revenue sources, market levels, and operating conditions.

Industry data for the first half provide a broader reference point. The China Securities Association’s analysis of securities companies’ operating conditions in the first half of 2026 reported that 150 securities companies generated operating revenue of 329.810 billion yuan and net profit of 138.664 billion yuan. Those totals were up 31.38% and 23.50%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. A total of 136 companies were profitable, meaning that more than 90% of the companies recorded profits.

The association’s report also noted that loss-making firms were mainly foreign-funded companies and investment-banking subsidiaries, among others. The industry’s average annualized return on equity was 8.14%, an increase of 1.08 percentage points year over year. These figures suggest that first-half profitability was broad across the sector, although they do not imply that every firm experienced the same results or that those results will necessarily continue at the same pace.

Taken together, the September account data and brokerage forecasts describe a market in transition. New A-share registrations reached a yearly monthly low, while cumulative openings remained near the preceding year’s full-year level. Margin-related new accounts were broadly stable from August but substantially lower than a year earlier. Meanwhile, brokerage forecasts anticipated strong year-to-date growth alongside a quarter-on-quarter pullback. The central distinction is between a sharp monthly cooling and a still-elevated cumulative total.

Key Insights Table

Afterwards...

Understanding the next phase of China’s securities market will require attention to more than monthly account-opening totals. Future analysis can benefit from examining how investor participation changes across market cycles, how retail and institutional activity differ, and how account growth relates to actual trading behavior. Distinguishing new registrations from sustained investment activity can help produce a more complete picture of market engagement.

It will also be useful to track the relationship between trading volumes and brokerage income across business lines. Brokerage commissions, proprietary investment, investment banking, and financing services may respond differently to shifts in market conditions. More detailed disclosures and consistent comparisons across quarters could clarify which sources of revenue are resilient and which are more sensitive to market turnover.

Finally, margin-related indicators merit careful, context-aware study. Account counts, outstanding balances, and maintenance ratios measure different features of leveraged participation. Combining these indicators with transparent explanations of their definitions and limitations can support more informed assessments without treating any single figure as a complete measure of risk. Better data literacy and clearer market reporting will be important as investors, researchers, and regulators evaluate changing participation and industry performance.