China reaping the fruits of financial sector opening-up 
2019-06-13
China’s opening-up policies in the financial industry have been well received by the market and rich fruits have been reaped during the past one and a half years, officials said.
Qi Xiang, deputy director of the general office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said at a preparatory conference for the upcoming Lujiazui Forum that the watchdog had approved the applications of nine foreign-funded institutions to enter the Chinese market and 50 foreign applications to set up branches since last year’s Boao Forum.
China is currently host to 41 foreign-owned banks, 57 foreign-funded legal person insurers, 14 foreign insurance intermediaries and 136 insurance representative agencies.
Beijing has accelerated efforts to expand financial opening-up, with 15 new measures unveiled by the CBIRC in April 2018, including the loosening or cancellation of foreign ownership restrictions and relaxation of market entry conditions for foreign-invested institutions.
In May, the watchdog announced 12 new measures, further opening up the US$44 trillion financial sector. The measures cover banks, trust firms and insurance brokerages. For example, to encourage more eligible foreign brokerages to enter the market, previous requirements on their operational history and total assets will be eliminated.
In this fresh round of opening-up, Shanghai has been at the very forefront, Qi noted. It has brought together financial resources and attracted more international investors.
Last November, the CBIRC gave a nod for German insurer Allianz to set up a wholly owned insurance holding firm in Shanghai, the first of its kind. ICBC-AXA Life Insurance Co and BoComm Life Insurance were also given nod to establish wholly owned subsidiaries for asset management last May and July, respectively. By the end of 2018, Shanghai had been home to 53 foreign-invested insurers.
During the same period, total assets of foreign banks in the city reached 1.5 trillion yuan, a seven-fold hike compared with the end of 2001.
Meanwhile, great progress has been made in pushing cooperation between domestic and foreign players. In 2018 alone, there were 102 new joint projects in areas like overseas bond issuance and underwriting.
