To enhance the competitiveness and global influence of Shanghai as an international financial hub, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government released an action plan on June 18.

The plan outlines five key priorities:

1. Attract and empower financial institutions

• Encourage more banking and insurance institutions to establish operations in Shanghai. Support commercial bank headquarters in strengthening their Shanghai presence through dedicated branches or delegated authority to local offices.
• Promote a greater role for foreign financial institutions in building the city into an international financial center.
• Prioritize the launch of major financial opening-up projects in Shanghai.
• Attract international financial organizations, industry associations, and new multilateral financial institutions to Shanghai.
• Encourage local financial institutions to enhance their service capabilities and strengthen collaboration.

2. Improve financial support for the real economy

• Enhance the effectiveness of technology finance by exploring financial service models tailored to tech enterprises under sound risk control.
• Encourage institutions to develop carbon finance, enhance Shanghai's competitiveness in shaping international carbon pricing mechanisms, and build the city into an international green finance hub.
• Promote inclusive finance, retirement finance, and digital finance.

3. Advance institutional opening-up

• Align with high-standard international economic and trade rules to explore institutional opening-up in finance.
• Pilot cross-border syndicated loans and other non-resident lending based on international best practices in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.
• Optimize cross-border financial services and boost the international operations of financial institutions.
• Accelerate the development of the Shanghai International Reinsurance Exchange and marine insurance. Explore offshore financial innovations and promote institutional participation in the development of the financial market.

4. Enhance financial regulation to balance growth and security

• Encourage local institutions to strengthen forward-looking risk management and ensure stable operations.
• Uphold a balanced regulatory approach that supports financial innovation, especially in areas such as the real economy and opening-up. Pilot a safe harbor mechanism for financial innovation trials.
• Strengthen central-local cooperation on financial risk prevention and establish a robust response system in Shanghai.

5. Improve supporting policies and professional services

• Provide stronger legal support for the financial center's development. Support the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau in building the city's financial consumer protection center to better protect consumer rights.
• Improve regulatory technology infrastructure and, where conditions permit, establish a National Financial Regulatory Administration data sub-center in Shanghai.
• Support the development of a new asset management service platform and promote the high-quality transformation and upgrading of the sector through risk- and data-driven approaches.
• Support the recruitment and training of top-tier financial professionals.

Source: National Financial Regulatory Administration