Officials call for further opening-up in financial sector

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As the world's second largest economy, China should further open up its financial sector to meet the needs of the development amid economic transition, officials said at the Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum on Saturday.

China has made remarkable achievements in the past 40 years since its opening-up, but the financial sector is lagging behind in globalization, Zhu Min, former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said in a keynote speech at the forum.

The assets of foreign banks in China accounts for only 1.26 percent in the banking industry, dropping from the peak 2.32 percent in 2007, Zhu said, noting that there are too many restrictions which have led to an imperfect market.

Meanwhile, foreign investors only have 1.15 percent of the shares in A-share market, 2.44 percent in bonds market, and 6.1 percent in insurance, much lower than the world average and also not in line with China’s scale of economy, according to Zhu.

Chen Wenhui, vice chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), echoed Zhu's sentiments and said it is essential for China to further open up financial sector amid its economic transition.

The first benefit of more openness will be more efficient allocation of financial resources, which will better support the real economy, Chen said.

Moreover, the globalization of the Chinese economy and overseas development of Chinese enterprises require equal and open rules for markets at home and abroad.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to further open the financial sector at the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia in April, the CBIRC is implementing a set of opening measures, according to Chen.

These measures are mainly about reducing restrictions on investment and market access, such as lowering the threshold for foreign banks to set up branches in China and encouraging overseas investors to participate in more business like government bonds and insurance, Chen said.

To ensure the implementation of these measures, the CBIRC has been working on related regulations and has started accepting market entrance applications according to some new opening-up policies, he noted.