Financial industry prospers with Pudong's opening up

As the main birthplace of the modern financial industry in China, the Pudong New Area has seen the booming development of its financial sector in  30 years of reform and opening up.

In 2019, the added value of its financial industry reached 383.5 billion yuan (US$57.6 billion), accounting for around a third of the area’s GDP and more than half of the added value made by Shanghai's financial space, said Zhang Hong, director of Pudong New Area Financial Services Bureau.

And that growth momentum was kept in the first half of 2020 despite the COVID-19 epidemic.

Thanks to China and the city's efforts in opening up its financial services, Pudong has built a relatively complete financial market system, Zhang noted.

At present, the area has 13 financial factor markets and infrastructures such as stocks, bonds, futures, insurance, trust and foreign exchange. It is one of the regions with the most complete financial factor markets and the most active transactions in the world. 

Last year, 1.412 billion lots were traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, ranking first in the global exchange-traded commodity derivatives for four consecutive years. And the turnover of the Shanghai Stock Exchange hit 282 trillion yuan, ranking fourth in the world, according to data from the bureau.

Meanwhile, Pudong also attracted a large number of top financial players, including licensed financial institutions, emerging disruptors and competitors as well as financial service providers.

By the end of October, there were 1,105 financial institutions in the area, including 287 banking institutions, 509 securities brokers and 309 insurance related companies.

In recent years, it has vigorously promoted the development of global asset management, financial technology, insurance and other fields, according to the development plan of Shanghai.

In the field of asset management, for example, Pudong has gathered a group of world-class fund managers and their subsidiaries, insurance asset management companies, private equity and venture capital funds.

In addition, 71 internationally renowned asset managers have set up 97 asset management institutions in Pudong, and nine of the top ten players in the world have settled there.

Next, Pudong aims to build a global financial resource allocation center. Efforts will be made to improve the trading volume and internationalization level of financial markets, increase the participation of foreign investors, and promote the effective allocation of global capital in financial markets.

It is also exploring the creation of a new highland for financial institutions to gather and an experimental field for financial reform and innovation.

The further integration of industry and the financial sector will be another focus in the future.