China has announced more than a dozen financial opening-up policies this year. A key milestone is the official inclusion of A shares in the MSCI index. But a more open market means a bigger exposure to global risks. What's at stake for China to hold on to the opening up momentum? Xia Cheng reports.

Opening-up doesn't mean relaxing regulations. That's the word from China's central bank governor Yi Gang.

YI GANG, GOVERNOR PEOPLE'S BANK OF CHINA "We have to insist that financial services are licensed businesses. That we are opening the financial sector doesn't mean anyone can do financial business in China. Every financial institution, no matter Chinese or overseas, has to obtain certain official licenses from the regulator before operating such business legally in China."

Three years from now, there will be no stake limit on foreign banks, asset managers, brokerages and insurers in their own China ventures. And the MSCI now officially covers the mainland A-shares. What's next in the policy radar? First, pace of reform.

MICHALA MARCUSSEN, GROUP CHIEF ECONOMIST SOCIETE GENERALE "This is going to be a step-by-step process. This is very important also from a risk management perspective because if you suddenly move things too quickly, this itself could be damaging. Then, you may be forced to roll back, and this loses credibility both internationally and domestically. So, good ideas, good pace, and the right measures at the right time."

And that's crucial when global central banks are in a defacto tightening cycle.

XIA CHENG BEIJING "Second, level playing field. After years of government incentives for SME loans, the bulk of China's bank credit still goes to less efficient state firms.That results in banks' low return on equity and slow innovation. Only competition from home and abroad can alter the situation."

PROF. XIANG SONGZUO, SCHOOL OF FINANCE RENMIN UNIVERSITY OF CHINA "Look at small and medium sized enterprises. They still face very difficult problems to get credit. What's the reason? Even now SOE contribute less and less GDP growth, employment, SOE still got a very big pie of total credit. I think that's unfair. That's inefficient."

And third, how investors position the Chinese mainland stock market in their portfolios?

The consensus in the market is that China's financial opening-up is less about competition and more about education, as China's own financial institutions are too bulky to be effecient and transparent. And it may also be a learning process for the regulators to boost their risk tolerance, which is a vote of confidence for more market innovation and opening up.

Xia Cheng, CGTN, Beijing.