Shanghai now third in ranking of global financial centers

Shanghai has been ranked among the top 3 global financial hubs, following New York and London, according to the 28th edition of the Global Financial Centers Index report launched on Friday.

Shanghai moved up one place to third and Tokyo dropped one place to fourth, although only one point separates them in the ratings, according to the report jointly released by the city of London's think tank Z/Yen Group and Shenzhen's China Development Institute.

Similarly, Hong Kong moved up a place to rank fifth and Singapore fell one place to sixth, again with only one point separating the two cities in the ranking.

Shenzhen and Zurich entered the top ten in this edition, replacing Los Angeles and Geneva.

Within the top 30 centers, Luxembourg, Boston, Seoul, and Madrid rose by more than five places.

The index tracked 121 financial centers globally, with 111 centers in the main index.

Regionally, Asia/Pacific Centers had a mixed performance in GFCI 28, with ten centers falling in the rankings and 14 rising. Taipei, Chengdu, and Qingdao all rose more than 30 places in the rankings.

In a separate ranking of financial centers as competitive locations for fostering financial technology industry, New York ranked first, followed by Beijing, Shanghai, London, and Shenzhen. Five of the top ten centers for FinTech are Chinese.

Shanghai boasts a solid foundation, great potential, and a huge market size in building itself into an international financial center, said the CEIBS Lujiazui Institute of International Finance.

In 2019, the trading volume of the city’s financial markets totaled 1,934 trillion yuan (US$283.4 trillion), 7.7 times the level in 2009.

By the end of 2019, the total number of licensed financial institutions in Shanghai had reached 1,646, 660 more than that at the end of 2009.

With its robust development, Shanghai International Financial Centre has been widely recognized. Its financial market system has been continually improved, with a growing international influence, the institute noted.

Shanghai has become one of the globe's cities that has a complete set of financial factor markets. An array of financial market platforms, such as China Trust Registration Co Ltd, Shanghai Insurance Exchange, Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange, and Shanghai Headquarters of China Central Depository & Clearing Co Ltd, have been based in Shanghai in recent years.

The city has established an omni-category financial market system covering stocks, bonds, futures, currency, foreign exchange, gold, insurance, and trusts.