Shanghai aims to be BRI investment and financing center

Shanghai is striving to become a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investment and financing center and a global renminbi financial service center, local officials said at a symposium on March 27.

To achieve that goal the city is actively promoting financial reform and innovation, with fruitful results.

The Cross-border Interbank Payment System, with its first stage going operational in October 2015, attracted 508 indirect participants from countries and regions along the BRI route by the end of 2017. Its second stage started trial operations on March 26.

Cross-border payments done with countries and regions along the BRI route via free trade accounts had reached 288.6 billion yuan ($46 billion) by 2017.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange and China Financial Futures Exchange cooperated with their Pakistani partners to purchase 40 percent of the shares of the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange meanwhile unveiled Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price-denominated future contracts.

Li Jun, deputy director of the Shanghai Financial Service Office, said that Shanghai is working on advancing the two-way opening and connection of its financial market to attract more financial institutions to take part in BRI construction and to build closer financial ties with countries and regions along the BRI route.

The free trade account will further lower its threshold this year, allowing all local companies with actual demands to be able to enjoy its benefits. 

Shanghai is striving to become a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investment and financing center and a global renminbi financial service center. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]