After two years of strict lockdowns, travel bans, and cumbersome quarantine measures, UBS sees China's reopening as a huge chance for its businesses across Asia, especially for wealth management.

China’s reopening, including last weekend's removal of quarantine controls for inbound travelers, will give UBS’s wealth management business a boost, UBS executive board member Edmund Koh said in a «Bloomberg» TV interview Monday.

Koh, who is also president of UBS Asia Pacific, expects growth in China to take off in the second quarter of the year and added that the reopening of the country's 17 trillion dollar economy would also have a positive impact globally.

Moving On

The Swiss bank with 13 locations across Asia told the news outlet it was looking to hire talent this year as it expects its wealth management business to drive its business in the region. This development would see wealth management move on from last year's performance, marked by a decrease in transaction-based income in the third quarter.

Although clients' trading activity was low during this period, they didn't withdraw their money from their UBS accounts, as Switzerland's largest bank emphasized in its third-quarter results.