Conscious of increasing competition from other jurisdictions, Guernsey is moving to bolster the financial services links between the island and China and India through a series of delegations to the countries in the second half of this year.

While Guernsey has had a representative office in China for over two years, the visits to India are the jurisdiction’s first official marketing efforts in the country – widely regarded as a rapidly growing market which wealth managers and other financial institutions cannot afford to ignore.

Politicians, officials and business leaders will be taking part in these promotional efforts, which will include governmental engagements and meetings with regulators, industry associations and business introducers.

In October, Carla McNulty Bauer, minister for the Commerce and Employment Department within the Guernsey Government, will lead a delegation to Delhi and then Mumbai; in the following month Lyndon Trott, chief minister, will lead a delegation to Beijing and Shanghai.

Peter Niven, chief executive of Guernsey Finance, the promotional body for the island which is organising the trips, will also be involved, leading Guernsey trade delegations to wealth management and investment fund conferences in Hong Kong during November and another investment fund conference in India at the start of December.

“The island needs to make sure that it maintains its profile in centres such as London, which remains our principal source of new business and indeed the UK more widely, while also developing relationships in emerging markets such as China and India,” Niven said in a statement.

“The multiple visits during the coming months will enhance relationships with the government, regulators, professional associations and individual companies, providing the island’s firms with a smoother path for doing business in those countries. The importance of meeting key decision makers on a one-to-one basis cannot be underestimated.”