Shanghai Mayor talks up financial development with IMF chief

Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng met with a delegation led by Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, on Saturday.

Gong said that as the largest economic center of China, Shanghai is committed to deepening the construction of the "Five Centers" and strengthening the "Four Functions," promoting high-level reform and opening up, accelerating urban digital transformation and green and low-carbon transformation, and continuously improving the city's core competitiveness.

Finance is the core of the modern economy and is one of the most important functions of Shanghai. Shanghai is accelerating the construction of a world-class international financial center.

The IMF plays an important role in global economic governance, and we expect the IMF to help promote the opening up of Shanghai's financial market, support the interconnection of Shanghai's financial infrastructure with other parts of the world, and encourage more international economic organizations to establish offices in Shanghai and support more financial institutions to settle in Shanghai.

We also hope to learn from the advanced concepts and experience of the IMF to promote green and low-carbon transformation and development. Meanwhile, we welcome the IMF to continue to pay attention to and participate in the China International Import Expo, and make good use of this international cooperation platform, the mayor said.

Georgieva said that this visit to Shanghai was her first in 25 years and Shanghai has undergone tremendous changes and contributed greatly to the development of China and the global economy. With the current global economic growth slowing and being filled with uncertainty, it requires us to push for economic transformation with greater determination, especially in terms of green and digital transformation, in order to increase productivity and enhance business confidence.

It is great to see Shanghai's achievements in promoting green and low-carbon development, and the IMF will leverage its expertise to deepen cooperation with Shanghai and promote prosperous global economic development.