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June 29, 2012

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Home » Supplement » Lujiazui finance fair

Shanghai's global aspirations find voice at economic forum

June 29, 2012, Friday | Print Edition

EDITOR'S Note:

The annual Lujiazui Forum provides a platform for prominent people from China and abroad to share their views on global growth, China's reform path and Shanghai's financial ambitions. Does all this advice and suggestion make sense? We invite you to join the dialogue and find out.

This eight-page issue also inaugurated Shanghai Daily's Finance supplement, which will be published monthly to cover China's fast-changing financial sector.

Feng Jianmin

China is being bombarded with endless advice, from both foreign and domestic sources, on how to pave the road of reform for Shanghai?s evolution into a world finance center on par with London and New York by 2020.

As with most transformations of this magnitude, change is easier said than done, especially in a nation noted for its painstaking caution.

The annual Lujiazui Forum that opened yesterday in Shanghai brings some of the best minds in the world together to discuss global growth prospects, China?s reforms and the city?s global aspirations.

The three-day event, chaired by Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng and People?s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, will feature at least 165 speakers from around the world.

This year?s theme is òReforming Global Financial Governance for Real Economic Growth.ó

In-depth reform

òThe financial crisis in Europe and the United States has shown that global financial regulation should go through in-depth reform,ó said Ling Tao, deputy director of the Shanghai headquarters of the China?s central bank. òThe forum hopes to explore effective measures for finance to better serve economic development.ó

Since last year?s Lujiazui Forum. China has continued its slow, cautious program of reforms to open the nation?s capital accounts and investment channels.

Last November, the òRenminbi Qualified Institutional Investorsó program was started, allowing investors to use yuan accumulated in Hong Kong to invest in domestic stock and bond markets for the first time.

Also that month, local governments in Shanghai and Shenzhen cities and in the provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang were given the green light by the central government to sell bonds directly to buyers.

Since April, the pace of reform has been picking up. The yuan?s trading band against the US dollar has been doubled, direct currency trading between the yuan and the Japanese yen began, the quota for foreigners to invest in domestic stock markets was increased and banks were given more leeway in setting deposit rates for the first time.

To try to overcome prolonged weakness in China?s stock markets, the securities regulator has implemented a series of measures, cracking down on insider trading, taming speculative selling on the first day of new IPO trading, and allowing pension and insurance funds to invest in stock and derivatives markets as long-term, value investors.

Are there improvements? Most people would say yes. Are these improvements sufficient to help catapult Shanghai to the top tier of international financial centers? Most people would say that goal will take more time and work.

The organizers of Lujiazui Forum 2012, named after the financial district in Shanghai often compared with the Wall Street, said they are hoping that discussions at the event will help shed light on what further reforms are needed and how they should be implemented in the future.

Topics to be discussed during the Lujiazui Forum

Furthering China's Financial Reforms for the Real Growth of the Real Economy

Formulating a New Global Financial Governance Structure

RMB Internationalization and the Globalization of China's Financial Sector

Toward An International Financial Center: Shanghai in the 12th Five-year Plan

Interest Rate and Exchange Rate Liberalization

Promoting Financial Services for Smaller Businesses

The European Sovereign Debt Crisis: the Euro and Europe's Economic Prospects

Energy and Other Commodity Futures Markets

Paths of RMB Capital Account Convertibility

Local Financial Regulatory Capabilities and Risk Management

Maritime Finance in China

Sino-European Financial Cooperation and RMB's Roles

Future of China's Bond Market

Innovation in the Insurance Market and China's Pension System

Shanghai As An Asset Management Center: Private Banking

New Opportunities for Private Equity Cross-border Investment

Lujiazui finance fair


 

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