Fidelity International has denied media reports that it is considering exiting its wholly owned onshore China mutual fund company, saying on August 21 that its strategy and market positioning in the country remain unchanged. The London-based firm, which manages $1.18 trillion in client assets globally and has invested about $218 million in the China unit, said it still views China as an important market with attractive long-term opportunities for its business and investors. FIL Fund Management (China) Co., Ltd., approved in December 2022 and indirectly wholly owned by Fidelity International, manages 14 retail funds with about 4.5 billion yuan in assets, down 25% from a peak of 6 billion yuan and far below the $14 billion break-even level cited in a 2024 internal document. Reuters had earlier reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that intense competition, management turnover and difficulty scaling made the retail business unsustainable. Fidelity highlighted cross-border products under the Mainland-Hong Kong Mutual Recognition of Funds scheme, with its first mainland mutual recognition fund approved in late July and sales starting August 10. The China Securities Regulatory Commission had not received a formal withdrawal application. Other foreign managers, including Schroders, Legal & General and Vanguard, have scaled back China retail fund ambitions even as Beijing has eased foreign access since 2020.