China pledges further high-level opening up of financial sector

China is promoting the further high-level opening-up of the financial sector and will increase financial support for new forms of consumption and services.

Speaking at the ongoing 14th Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, Li Yunze, administrator of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, emphasized that China will always adhere to the policy of opening up its financial industry to the world.

The financial industry's opening-up will be relentlessly expanded as time goes on, he said. The country will make further efforts to both introduce foreign institutions and support domestic ones to expand overseas. It will steadily promote high-level opening-up of the financial industry, and continuously create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment.

Foreign financial institutions that are operating steadily and have excellent qualifications are welcome to expand their business in China in fields such as wealth management, green finance, elderly care, health care and asset management, Li said, adding that qualified foreign institutions are encouraged to participate in various business trials.

China will also continue to optimize cross-border financial services and vigorously support the development of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is actively participating in the construction of international financial governance infrastructure, strengthening policy coordination and regulatory cooperation, and jointly promoting global financial stability.

Over recent years, China has launched more than 50 measures on the opening-up of the financial sector, lifted foreign shareholding restrictions, and greatly reduced quantitative barriers to foreign access.

Also highlighted in Li's speech was the need to continuously optimize financial services to better serve the real economy. The administration will increase financial support for new forms of consumption and services, he noted.

The administration will promote bulk consumption such as that of new-energy vehicles and green home appliances. It will also strengthen financing guarantees for investments, and support major construction projects such as the renovation of urban villages and the construction of "dual-use" public infrastructure in megacities.

Meanwhile, Li emphasized the need to improve foreign trade credit and export credit insurance services to help companies stabilize their orders and expand their markets.

The administration will seize the new opportunities in emerging sectors, continue to increase financial supply in key areas such as advanced manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, and in the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, which is aimed at effectively accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system.

He reiterated that the authority will keep optimizing the financing environment for the private sector, strengthen financial services for private enterprises and nurture private enterprises' passion for entrepreneurship and development. It will also vigorously develop inclusive finance to help market entities build confidence and vitality.