A sub-forum of the 2022 Qingdao China Wealth Forum opened in the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone Qingdao Area, or Qingdao FTZ, on July 31, offering suggestions for Qingdao FTZ to improve its financial services and competitiveness.
Experts, scholars and well-known entrepreneurs from the field of wealth management gathered in Qingdao to exchange ideas, discuss cooperation and seek common development around the sub-forum's theme of "innovating financial services and enhancing Qingdao FTZ's competitiveness".
Wang Li, deputy director of the administrative committee of Qingdao FTZ, said that Qingdao FTZ has been advancing institutional opening-up to promote its high-quality development. According to Wang, Qingdao FTZ's institutional innovation index ranks third among the 19 areas in China's fifth batch of pilot free trade zones.
Wang also introduced that Qingdao FTZ initiated a series of innovative financial services and introduced a number of financial projects, providing investment and financing for enterprises with more than 30 billion yuan ($4.44 billion). It now houses more than 240 financial institutions and has 54 funds registered with the Asset Management Association of China with a total fund size of 47.4 billion yuan.
Wang Zhongmin, former vice chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund, encouraged the government to establish government guidance funds and invest in the industrial chain to form industrial clusters.
Wang Zhiyi, dean of the Cross-border Finance Research Institute, said that the free trade zone should focus on promoting the use of the cross-border RMB (Chinese currency renminbi), assist with the internationalization of the RMB, and help enterprises solve cross-border settlement problems to carry out innovation and develop new trade formats.
Topics on providing financial support for offshore trade, financial reform in Qingdao FTZ, a global cross-border payment system, and key lessons from the financial crisis were also discussed.
A sub-forum of the 2022 Qingdao China Wealth Forum hosted by the administrative committee of Qingdao FTZ takes place on July 31. [Photo/WeChat ID: qingdaozimao]
China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone Qingdao Area
