To be sure, the city is not yet in the league of New York, London, Singapore

Great efforts have been made by the central regulators and the municipal government of Shanghai to narrow the gap between the city and other leading financial centers such as New York, London and Singapore. The spectacular results of their efforts are now evident in the form of Shanghai's rising stock among the world's best financial hubs.

Although its global standing is much brighter now that it was a few years back, it is probably a bit premature to claim that the metropolis is on its way to becoming the world's best financial hub.

One of the issues that industry insiders and experts have highlighted time and again is the openness of the financial market. Central regulators have understood very well the importance of that by coming up with a number of opening-up policies in banking, securities and insurance. But it will certainly take some time to see the difference here.

It is true that the trading volume registered here by financial institutions and companies every year is paramount, but Shanghai has not yet played a decisive role in the global financial community.

Take New York for example, where its onshore business is a major driver. New York is home to the world's largest stock trading house. According to the World Federation of Exchanges, the total market value of the stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange topped $20.68 trillion in 2018, accounting for 23.02 percent of the world's total.

On the other hand, the total market cap of the 1,450 companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange was about $4 trillion. The Shanghai bourse has a lot of catching up to do for sure.

Different from New York, London has taken its leading position among the global financial markets in terms of the offshore business. It has long been the world's largest foreign exchange market, taking up more than 40 percent of the world's foreign exchange transactions.

Ever since the British government lifted its control on foreign exchange in 1979, the London foreign exchange market has been galloping, with more than 30 currencies frequently traded in London at present.

The long history of London's financial industry, and the complete financial system there, have made the UK capital a magnet that attracts the best financial talent. This is one area where Shanghai should make more investment, experts said.

According to recruitment platform Boss Zhipin, Shanghai is still short of financial talent with interdisciplinary knowledge background. While fintech is flourishing and has become a new impetus for the city's financial industry, candidates with knowledge in big data, artificial intelligence or blockchain technologies are still in short supply.

Similarly, there is inadequate supply of candidates with international qualifications such as CFA (certified financial analyst) or FRM (financial risk manager) in Shanghai's job market. Even though there has been a gradual increase of such talent since 2010, the supply has been far from being able to meet the demand, said Boss Zhipin.

The scenario is further complicated by strong demand for talent from internet-based businesses and technology companies, according to Boss Zhipin.

Between 2017 and 2018, about 34 percent of the financial professionals switched their career paths to the internet industry. As emerging industries like artificial intelligence and blockchain are offering more competitive remuneration, it is high time for financial institutions to come up with solutions to tackle the talent challenge.