Experts share insights as financial forum opens in Shanghai

Candid exchanges among domestic and foreign financial experts were made during the 2024 Lujiazui Forum, which kicked off in Shanghai on Wednesday.

"There is no permanent winner in terms of economic growth. We all need to learn from various mistakes and keep fort. I believe that a robust legal system is crucial to facing the current worldwide unrest. And I'm glad to witness that China is developing such a system," said Howard Marks, co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, at China's top forum in the financial sector.

Industry experts like Marks gathered at Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, to share ideas – more than 70 enterprise leaders and experts from home and abroad will offer insights and opinions at the two-day Lujiazui Forum to help with China's financial reform and opening up as well as global financial governance.

As the wind vane and testing ground of China's financial reform and development, the forum, with the theme of "High-quality financial development to promote the growth of the world economy," will have eight plenary sessions covering trending topics in the economic and financial fields, including international monetary policy coordination, green financial system innovation, and pension finance.

"China's economy remains an important engine of stable growth for the world economy. Its banking, securities and insurance industries are all crucial to promoting economic and social development," said Li Yunze, director of the State Administration for Financial Regulation.

Credit: Dong Jun / SHINE

"We will continue to promote financial initiatives for early and pilot implementation in Shanghai, supporting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region," Li said.

Meanwhile, Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said: "We will support more foreign financial institutions to expand their business in Shanghai and encourage local institutions to make good use of the city's development advantages to accelerate the cultivation of first-class investment banks and investment institutions."

A series of signing and inauguration activities of newly established organizations at the forum will also be held during the event.

The Lujiazui Forum, held annually since 2008, is a witness to the evolution of Shanghai as an international financial center.

The added value of Shanghai's financial industry in 2023 amounted to 864.686 billion yuan (US$118.9 billion), an increase of 5.2 percent year on year, and in the first quarter of this year, the value hit 209.67 billion yuan, a 5.1 percent annual gain, according to official data.

Credit: Dong Jun / SHINE