China is set to combine Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities, creating a megabrokerage with 1.68 trillion yuan in total assets, in a move to compete with Wall Street in the financial services sector. Guotai Junan plans to absorb Haitong through a stock swap, making it the largest brokerage in China in terms of both total and net assets, surpassing Citic Securities. Both companies are owned by Shanghai’s state-owned asset administrator, and the merger is pending approval from the boards, shareholders, and regulatory authorities. Analysts believe this merger will accelerate industry consolidation and strengthen long-term competitiveness for the firms. This…