China on Friday kicked off its long-awaited cross-border wealth management connect (WMC) program, a step that further interlinks its Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The scheme, of which a draft was released in May, refers to the arrangement under which individual residents in the GBA carry out cross-boundary investment in wealth management products distributed by banks in the GBA.

The GBA includes southern China's Guangdong Province, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said the WMC will bring combined fund flows of 300 billion yuan ($46.5 billion) in GBA.

"The scheme will not only offer more investment options for individual GBA investors but also create new opportunities for the banking and wealth management industry in the three places," said Eddie Yue, the Chief Executive of the HKMA, in a statement, adding the launch of WMC "marks another encouraging development of financial cooperation" in the GBA.