Beijing to boost role as national center of financial management

Forum highlights capital’s advantages, vast potential

Beijing is eyeing a larger role as the country’s financial management center, as the Chinese capital, which hosts its own stock exchange and financial court, seeks to expand its functionality beyond being the national political center, regulatory authorities and financial industry insiders said on Wednesday at the conclusion of a keenly watched financial forum.

In a speech to the Financial Street Forum 2022, an eponymous gathering of the Beijing Financial Street, Li Wenhong, director of the Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration, revealed plans to enhance the capital’s role as the national financial management center.

That suggests Beijing will ramp up its services to support the implementation of major financial strategies and policies, and play a better part in financial decision-making, standard-setting, financial legislation, payments and settlements, statistical publications, and international cooperation and financial security, among its other functionalities, Li said.

In addition, the capital envisions heavier clout as a financial market, she continued, citing the one-year-old Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), which has become an important part of efforts to establish Beijing as the national financial management center.

“We’ll support the BSE in expanding its transaction scale, enriching trading portfolios, and improving market liquidity and vitality,” Li said.

On top of that, the capital will continue to facilitate financial opening-up, for there to be a fair, open, transparent, stable and predictable business environment for both domestic and foreign financial institutions.

Qian Yujun, president of UBS China and chairman of UBS Securities, said at the forum that as a large number of overseas and domestic financial institutions are located in Beijing, it has long become China’s national financial management center, undertaking multiple missions including asset management, market activities, capital, payments and settlements, and so forth.

The three-day forum, which ended on Wednesday, was also in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Financial Street.

“The 30 years of Beijing Financial Street’s development has been a process of embracing opening-up and innovation continuously,” said Qian, adding that it’s also important for China to nurture the rules and concepts of a mature market, push positive competition, and use opening-up policies to promote reforms.

Since its establishment in 1992, the Beijing Financial Street has gradually embraced financial management departments under the State Council, large financial institutions, major financial infrastructure facilities and industry associations.