London vows to help city achieve crucial aims
By Emily Ford |
June 30, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A LEADING United Kingdom business official used a visit to Shanghai yesterday to stress London's commitment to working with the Chinese city on its path to becoming a world financial center.
Mark Boleat, the policy chairman of the City of London Corp, which governs the city's famous Square Mile, stressed that he was "not here to tell Shanghai what it needs to do" to achieve its aim of becoming a global financial center by 2020 to rival London or New York.
"There will be more cooperation between Shanghai and the City of London - we already have a significant amount of cooperation. The more (Shanghai) develops, the closer the links will be," he said.
Boleat, who joined the City of London Corp in May, also said he was committed to strengthening the British capital's newfound status as an offshore trading hub for the yuan, a move announced by Chancellor George Osborne in January.
There is already a "huge amount" of business in the yuan in London, Boleat said, particularly in the form of deposits and loans.
In April, the British bank HSBC became the first company to issue a yuan-denominated bond outside Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland.
As of the end of last year, there was 109 billion yuan (US$17.151 billion) worth of deposits in London, while the city represents 26 percent of the offshore yuan spot foreign exchange market. Most of the activity is still based in Hong Kong, however.
"We are not looking to compete with Hong Kong," Boleat said, adding that the opening-up of the Shanghai Stock Exchange to foreign companies would be a "critical" factor in the city's progress.
Mark Boleat, the policy chairman of the City of London Corp, which governs the city's famous Square Mile, stressed that he was "not here to tell Shanghai what it needs to do" to achieve its aim of becoming a global financial center by 2020 to rival London or New York.
"There will be more cooperation between Shanghai and the City of London - we already have a significant amount of cooperation. The more (Shanghai) develops, the closer the links will be," he said.
Boleat, who joined the City of London Corp in May, also said he was committed to strengthening the British capital's newfound status as an offshore trading hub for the yuan, a move announced by Chancellor George Osborne in January.
There is already a "huge amount" of business in the yuan in London, Boleat said, particularly in the form of deposits and loans.
In April, the British bank HSBC became the first company to issue a yuan-denominated bond outside Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland.
As of the end of last year, there was 109 billion yuan (US$17.151 billion) worth of deposits in London, while the city represents 26 percent of the offshore yuan spot foreign exchange market. Most of the activity is still based in Hong Kong, however.
"We are not looking to compete with Hong Kong," Boleat said, adding that the opening-up of the Shanghai Stock Exchange to foreign companies would be a "critical" factor in the city's progress.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
