Analysis of Guosen Securities' Intensive Branch Closures and the Effects of Its Financial Technology Transformation

According to public information, since 2024, Guosen Securities has intensively promoted network optimization and adjustment. The specific branch closure details are as follows:

Time Node	Number of Branches Closed	Cumulative Number of Branches Closed	Main Regions of Closures
July 2024	9	9	Distributed across multiple provinces
August 4, 2024	12	21	Qingdao, Shenzhen, etc.
Full Year 2024	21	42 (cumulative over two years)	Multiple regions nationwide

: In addition to Guosen Securities, since 2025, about 30 brokerages have implemented branch closure actions, reducing a total of over 180 branches. These include Industrial Securities (40 branches closed within the year), Caida Securities, Founder Securities (15 branches closed within the year), Zhongtai Securities, Orient Securities, China Galaxy Securities, Everbright Securities, etc. [1][2][3]

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Guosen Securities positions financial technology as a strategic priority, and explicitly identified “

” as one of its six core business pillars in its 14th Five-Year Strategic Plan [1][2].

• Formulated the 14th Five-Year Special Plan for Financial Technology
• Issued supporting Digital Transformation Work Plan
• Established a Financial Technology Committee to coordinate and promote digital finance initiatives

Platform Name	Functional Positioning	Core Value
Golden Sun APP	Core Entry for Digital Wealth Management	Over 29 million users, integrated with HarmonyOS ecosystem
GTrade+	Full-Life-Cycle Services for Institutional Clients	Building a new ecosystem for institutional client services
Huixin AI Platform	Integrated Artificial Intelligence Platform	Integrates mainstream large models and small models
North Star Data Platform	Enterprise-Level One-Stop Data Analysis	Full-link data connectivity
Next-Generation Core Trading System	Distributed Trading Architecture	Microsecond-level processing speed

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Indicator	2023	2024	YoY Growth
Entrusted Assets of Brokerage Business Clients	2.16 trillion yuan	2.40 trillion yuan	+11.11%
Stock and Fund Market Share	2.39%	2.75%	+15.06%
Number of Golden Sun APP Users	26 million	29 million	+11.54%
Number of WeChat Official Account Users	2.8 million	3.02 million	+7.86%
Growth Rate of Equity ETF Holdings Scale	—	50%	—

Indicator	Cumulative Over the Past Three Years	New Additions in 2024
Filed Technology Patents	80	—
Registered Computer Software Copyrights	50	—
Financial Technology Development Awards	5	+1
District-Level Awards in Shenzhen	7	—

:

• Deepened the construction of a digital wealth management system centered on the Golden Sun APP
• Built an integrated one-stop multi-channel comprehensive wealth management platform
• Investors participating in ETFs show a significant trend of younger age and onlineization [1]

:

• Optimized one-stop full-life-cycle services for institutional clients around GTrade+
• Built Guosen’s “Institutional Connect” integrated financial service platform integrating investment, research, and sales

:

• Built three investment platforms, forming a digital system of “derivatives + market making + investment”
• AI empowerment enhances business competitive advantages

:

• Strengthened the construction of intelligent tool platforms, comprehensively improving the operational efficiency of investment banking and fixed income businesses
• Facilitated the creation of a “online + offline” dual-wheel drive business development model for investment banking

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The transformation model adopted by Guosen Securities exhibits the following features:

1. Lightweight Physical Outlets
   : Closed inefficient branches to reduce fixed operating costs
2. Online Service Model
   : Centered on the Golden Sun APP, realizing digitalization of service scenarios
3. Intensified Operation and Management
   : Achieved cross-organizational and cross-business unified management through digital platforms
4. Intelligent Human-Machine Collaboration
   : AI systems handle basic services, while investment advisor teams focus on “companionship services”

While consolidating physical branches, the establishment of internet branches has gradually become a new trend in the securities industry:

• China Galaxy Securities
  : Established the first internet company in the securities industry in Beijing, building an online strategic hub [1]
• Soochow Securities
  : Set up the Jinji Lake Business District Digital Intelligence Branch, building a digital intelligence service system based on “Soochow Xiucai GPT” [1]
• Guotai Haitong
  : The Qingpu Branch implemented a “human-machine collaboration” model, with the number of clients covered per investment advisor increasing by
  3 times
  and customer satisfaction improving by
  25%
  [2]
• Central China Securities
  : Clearly proposed to establish an internet branch in 2025

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:

• ✅ Dual growth in customer entrusted assets and market share, indicating that branch closures did not impact the customer base
• ✅ Continued expansion of user scale on digital channels (11.54% growth in APP users)
• ✅ Steady improvement in technological innovation capabilities (continuous increase in patent applications and software copyright registrations)
• ✅ Received authoritative recognition such as the People’s Bank of China’s Financial Technology Development Award

:

• ⚠️ Branch closures may lead to reduced service capabilities in certain regions
• ⚠️ Online services present certain barriers for elderly customer groups
• ⚠️ Need to continuously balance the trade-off between cost control and service quality

Pan Helin, Member of the Expert Committee on Information and Communication Economy of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that the current digitalization of the securities industry can be divided into two major trends:

1. Onlineization of C-end Businesses
   : Users prefer online operations, and compliance reviews require digital technology support
2. Intelligentization of Brokerages’ Internal Businesses
   : AI empowers risk control capabilities, proprietary investment capabilities, intelligent investment advisory, etc. [1]

Guosen Securities stated that it will continue to deepen digital financial innovation-driven development, closely engage with customers, expand service boundaries, and achieve “where users are, services are there” [1].

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Guosen Securities’ financial technology transformation has achieved

: By closing 21 branches to free up resources, while driving business growth with digital platform construction at its core, it has achieved the dual goals of . From key indicators, the 11.11% growth in customer assets, 15.06% increase in market share, and over 29 million APP users all indicate that its “onlineization + data-driven” dual-wheel drive transformation path is feasible. However, how to balance inclusive service coverage and cost control during digital transformation remains a topic that the brokerage industry needs to continue exploring.

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[1] Xinhua News Agency - “Multiple Brokerages Close Branches, Intelligentization Gradually Becomes a New Path” (http://www.news.cn/money/20251126/9d2d3fd420234d5ea67900fd415b7c04/c.html)

[2] China Securities Journal - “Multiple Brokerages Close Branches, Intelligentization Gradually Becomes a New Path” (https://www.cs.com.cn/qs/202511/t20251126_6525119.html)

[3] Securities Times - “Multiple Brokerages Close Branches, Intelligentization Gradually Becomes a New Path” (https://stcn.com/article/detail/3512177.html)

[4] Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau - “Guosen Securities: Using Technology as a Pen and Innovation as Ink to Draw a ‘New Chapter’ of Smart Finance” (http://www.csrc.gov.cn/shenzhen/c105616/c7546700/content.shtml)

[5] Guosen Securities Co., Ltd. 2024 Annual Report Summary (http://static.cninfo.com.cn/finalpage/2025-04-19/1223150205.PDF)