Graphics: Financial Street Forum 2023 eyes more openness and cooperation

The Financial Street Forum 2023 will be held from Wednesday to Friday in Chinese capital Beijing with the spotlight on financial openness and economic cooperation this year.

Themed "Better China, Better World: Enhancing Financial Openness and Cooperation for Shared Growth and Mutual Benefits," the three-day event is expected to have a higher level of internationalization.

More than 400 heavyweights from over 30 countries and regions around the world are expected to exchange views on pressing economic and financial issues and discuss ways to promote the sharing and deepening of international cooperation opportunities to address the challenges facing global economic development.

The global economic recovery is slow as growth remains well below the historical average of 3.8 percent in 2000-2019 period per International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts: 3.5 percent in 2022, 3 percent in 2023 and 2.9 percent in 2024.

Advanced economies are expected to suffer a bigger drop in growth compared with emerging markets and developing economies – from 2.6 percent in 2022 to 1.5 percent in 2023 and 1.4 percent in 2024, while the latter are projected to decline from 4.1 percent in 2022 to 4 percent in both 2023 and 2024, the IMF said.

Affected by tighter monetary policy and lower international commodity prices, global inflation is forecast to decline from 8.7 percent in 2022 to 6.9 percent in 2023 and 5.8 percent in 2024, said the IMF, adding that inflation is not expected to return to target until 2025 in most cases.

This year's event will comprise a main forum, three parallel forums and fintech conferences. Besides the main venue in Beijing, sub-venues will also be set up in south China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Dubai and Singapore.

Founded in 2012, the Financial Street Forum has been successfully held for 11 years. It is considered as the bellwether of China's financial reform and development. It has been upgraded to a state-level and international industry forum since 2020, becoming an important platform for the country's opening up and development.

'China's Wall Street'

Formed in 1993, the Beijing Financial Street (BFS) is dubbed as "China's Wall Street" and the "brain" of the country's financial sector. It has introduced more than 300 important financial institutions, with a cumulative registered capital of 670 billion yuan (roughly $92 billion) in the past five years, Lu Wuxing, director of the BFS Service Bureau, said at a press conference.

By 2022, assets of financial institutions on the BFS had reached 133.6 trillion yuan ($18.8 trillion), while assets of listed companies on the BFS were valued at over 143 trillion yuan ($20.1 trillion) this year, according to data from the BFS.

About 41 percent of the national assets of commercial banks are on the BFS, which also hosts 90 percent of national credit funds and 65 percent of insurance premium funds.