Shanghai enhances financial business environment more in line with international practices

Shanghai is continuously improving the financial business environment, to create a high-quality financial ecology, more in line with international practices.

In recently years, Shanghai has been striving to create a top-notch financial business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and international, with the aim of meeting the needs of market entities, Zhou Xiaoquan, director of the Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau, told a news conference on Thursday.

Through bold exploration and vigorous efforts, the financial development ecology has been continuously optimized, financial services has been steadily improved, and vitality of the financial market fully unleashed, he said.

For instance, the city has constantly improved its ability to serve key areas and weak links, creating a favorable business environment for the high-quality development of the real economy. The city has achieved this through initiatives such as establishing an investment and financing chain for sci-tech start-ups, and supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.

As of the end of March, 510 companies had been listed on the STAR Market of Shanghai Stock Exchange, with a total of 771.7 billion yuan (US$111.46 billion) raised in initial public offerings and a combined market capitalization of 6.6 trillion yuan.

Inclusive finance has been further promoted, resulting in the provision of services to 550,000 companies and the support of loan disbursements totaling 380 billion yuan. The cumulative scale of government financing guarantees has exceeded 200 billion yuan.

Shanghai has also been expanding its financial reforms and opening up to attract domestic and foreign financial institutions to gather and grow in the city, said Zhou.

It has enhanced its position as a financial opening hub, and increased brand awareness of Shanghai as a financial center, becoming home to 1,736 licensed financial institutions, of which 539 are foreign funded, he said.

On promoting digitalization of the financial sector, Zhou noted the establishment of the Shanghai Data Exchange, along with a platform for local financial regulatory information.

It has seen the establishment of an ecosystem that fosters the growth and development of high-quality fintech enterprises, the formation of industry alliances including a fintech industry alliance and an intelligent investment and the Investment Technology League, and the orderly promotion of major pilot projects, such as the implementation of the digital yuan pilot program.

Meanwhile, the city continues to work on forming financial rules and regulations that are in line with international standards, to create a favorable business environment for international cooperation and competition, with progress made in areas such as financial law construction, credit and consumer protection, and city governance.

Efforts are also made to create an international financial talent hub to attract and retain top financial talent, with Shanghai's financial workforce exceeding 470,000 people.

Looking ahead, Shanghai is set to continue its push towards better financial business environment, taking steps to meet new high-quality development demands and to become a global leader in the financial sector, Zhou said.

It will accelerate the implementation of national strategies to develop an upgraded version of an international financial center. This will include the establishment of an international financial asset trading platform and the development of offshore yuan trading.

The city also pledges to deepen its financial reform and opening up efforts, to create a global resource allocation hub. Actions will be taken to optimize the systems of financial markets, products, institutions, and infrastructure.

To provide high-quality financial services, it is to enhance financing efficiency and reduce costs, with focus put on serving the real economy and improving the quality and efficiency of financial services for businesses. It will improve the green investment and financing service system, while strengthen the support for key areas of people's livelihoods, such as elderly care, health care and medical services.

Aiming to maintain financial security and stability while improving its financial governance and services, Shanghai is revising the regulations on the international financial center construction, enhancing local financial supervision, and strengthening financial risk monitoring and prevention. It will also explore the orderly cross-border flow of financial data and support the establishment of an international data port in the Lingang Special Area.