A central financial work conference was held in Beijing from Monday to Tuesday, at which Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, delivered an important speech.
Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, analyzed the situation facing the high-quality development of the financial sector and arranged relevant work for the current and future periods.
Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang and Li Xi, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting, with Li Qiang making specific arrangements for the financial work.
China will remain committed to the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics and boost the high-quality development of the financial sector to provide strong support for fully building China into a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization, according to the meeting.
In exploring the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics, China should follow the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, uphold a people-centered approach, and adhere to the ultimate mission of serving the real economy.
Preventing financial risks must be the eternal theme of the financial sector, and financial innovation should be market-oriented and remain compliant with laws, according to the meeting.
It stressed the importance of deepening financial supply-side structural reforms, coordinating financial opening up and security, and adhering to the general principle of making advances while maintaining stable performance.
It also pointed out that there are still problems in the financial sector, some of them prominent, such as corruption, requiring the country to fundamentally solve the problems.
The meeting urged vigorous efforts to create a sound monetary and financial environment, while stepping up quality financial services for major strategies, key areas and weak links. A prudent monetary policy should be maintained, the meeting noted.
More financial resources should be leveraged to support scientific and technological innovations, advanced manufacturing, green development, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as innovation-driven development strategies and coordinated regional development strategies, said the meeting.
It called for solid work on developing science and technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, old-age finance and digital finance, as well as smoothing channels for financing to access the real economy.
The registration-based initial public offering system should be further implemented amid efforts to improve the quality of listed firms and foster top-notch investment banks and institutions, the meeting said, while demanding the high-quality development of the bond market.
Large state-owned financial institutions should be given support to become better and stronger, acting as the main force to serve the real economy and the ballast to guard financial stability.
The meeting noted that the access standards and supervision requirements for small and medium-sized financial institutions should be stricter.
The functions of policy-based financial institutions should be enhanced, while the functions of the insurance sector should be given full play to cushion economic shocks and stabilize society, it said.
Efforts should be made to better facilitate cross-border investment and financing to attract more foreign-funded institutions and long-term capital to China, said the meeting.
The competitiveness and influence of Shanghai as an international financial center should be improved, while the status of Hong Kong as an international financial center should be consolidated and enhanced, the meeting noted.
It is necessary to comprehensively strengthen financial supervision, as well as effectively forestall and defuse financial risks, said the meeting, noting that all types of financial activities should be placed under regulation according to the law.
It stressed handling the risks of small and medium-sized financial institutions in a timely manner.
Efforts should be made to establish a long-term mechanism to guard against and defuse local debt risks, set up a government debt management system that is compatible with China’s pursuit of high-quality development, and optimize central and local government debt structures, according to the meeting.
China will promote the virtuous development cycle between the financial sector and the property sector, improve the macro-prudential management of real estate financing, and satisfy the reasonable financing demands of real estate enterprises of different types of ownership.
The meeting also called for efforts to make good use of the policy toolbox, implement city-specific policies, and better meet people’s basic housing needs and the need for improved housing conditions.
A new development model for the real estate sector should be forged, the meeting stressed.
It said that the CPC Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership is the fundamental guarantee for the development of the financial sector.
Having provided scientific answers to major questions on the theory and practice of financial development, Xi’s speech is an important part of Xi Jinping’s economic thought and a key innovation in Marxist political economy concerning financial matters, providing fundamental guidelines for promoting the high-quality development of the financial sector on the new journey in the new era, according to the meeting.
The meeting also urged all regions and departments to optimize financial services, advance financial high-standard opening up and steadily push forward the process of China’s renminbi internationalization.
Shayne Heffernan
