Shanghai to host Lujiazui financial forum in June
High-profile meeting seen as an opportunity for authorities and firms to map out new growth plan
The high-profile Lujiazui financial forum returns to Shanghai this month after last year’s event was suspended a day before the start because of Covid-19 restrictions.
The two-day gathering on June 8 and 9 would feature seven plenary and three night sessions, and would be held under the theme of global financial opening and cooperation as the new driver for the economic recovery, Yin Xin, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai government, said at a media briefing yesterday.
More than 70 speakers would join the panel discussions and representatives from global financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, would attend the conference, she said.
The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), the newly established super financial watchdog, was the forum’s rotating host this year, Yin said. The other hosts are the People’s Bank of China and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
While the detailed agenda of the conference has not yet been disclosed, a top official from the NFRA, as the host, is expected to deliver a keynote speech on the first day.
“The Lujiazui Forum has already become an authoritative financial forum in China and a premium international financial dialogue platform of great influence,” said Ge Ping, the deputy head of the Shanghai branch of the NFRA.
“It’s also a platform for the national financial regulatory departments to deliver important signals and make the voice heard outside. It has also witnessed the development of Shanghai as a financial centre.”
Last year, the event was called off a day before the start after officials detected a single, asymptomatic Covid-19 infection in Shanghai, raising concerns about an outbreak in the city of 25 million people. In 2020 and 2021, strict restrictions meant the number of people attending the forum was limited and most sessions were conducted virtually.
The annual event started in 2009 after Shanghai unveiled ambitions to transform itself into a global financial centre. It brings together top bankers, financiers, fund managers and analysts who hope to take advantage of the forum to lobby mainland regulators to further liberalise markets.
“Regulators and Shanghai officials use the event to attract overseas capital and financial professionals, while global banks and institutions come to look for new investment opportunities,” said Wang Feng, the chairman of Shanghai-based financial services group Ye Lang Capital.
“A big get-together this year after three years of strict pandemic curbs will offer a good chance for both Chinese authorities and financial services firms to map out a new growth plan for Shanghai and China’s financial sector.”
In 2019, the Shanghai Stock Exchange officially launched the Star Market, a Nasdaq-style board, at the Lujiazui Forum where Liu He, the then vice-premier, pressed the button to kick off the much-anticipated techheavy market.
Separately, on Tuesday Shanghai Communist Party boss Chen Jining met JPMorgan’s chief executive Jamie Dimon.
Chen said that he hoped the US bank would help to promote investment in the city’s financial sector and pledged to improve the business environment to support its operations.