Apart from the period 1941 to 1945, during which Japan forced HSBC and other foreign-invested banks to leave the local market, it has had a continuous presence in the city.

HSBC was historically housed in one of the largest and most impressive buildings on The Bund, Shanghai's boulevard formerly known as the "Wall Street of the Orient".

[2] In June 2024, HSBC Bank (China) started to provide digital yuan services to its corporate clients.

Although subject to foreign exchange regulation, HSBC China still manages to provide a rich range of international services to its local clients in China, including the free global transfer service and competitive time deposit quotes for foreign currencies.

In addition, HSBC is also a registered bank with Qualified Domestic Institution Investor (QDII) license in China, meaning it can provide financial products consisting of overseas mutual funds and other derivatives to its local Chinese clients.