All but one of the global investment banks in China finally managed to eke out a profit last year after Beijing allowed them to take full control of their operations and expand their influence in the country’s colossal financial sector.

After years of losses or meagre returns, six out of the seven Wall Street and European financial institutions with investment banking ventures in mainland China — including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — made a profit in 2021, according to figures reported by the banks and seen by the Financial Times.

Morgan Stanley, which was the first Wall Street bank to create an investment banking partnership in China in 1995, made a profit of Rmb30mn ($4.5mn) in 2021, according to the financial reports. In the prior three years, its onshore investment bank made a combined loss of about $38mn.