Top Biz News

SME board has a promising future

(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2006-05-26 15:32

The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Board on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange has a promising future, visiting financial expert Laura Cha told top Shenzhen officials Thursday.

Cha, vice chairwoman of a panel of international consultants for the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), made the remarks at a meeting with top Shenzhen officials including Party chief Li Hongzhong and Mayor Xu Zongheng.

Li warmly welcomed Cha and other members of the consultant panel, who are taking part in a two-day annual meeting in Shenzhen. He invited them to make suggestions about Shenzhen’s financial sector.

CSRC Chairman Shang Fulin and other international consultants including Alan Cameron, former chairperson of the Australian securities watchdog, also attended the meeting.

“Shenzhen is in bad need of expertise on the financial market and its bid to become a regional financial center,” said Li, who described the meeting as a “rare opportunity for Shenzhen.”

“I personally believe the SME board already have a good start and will have a promising future. Its development will greatly contribute to Shenzhen as a regional financial center,” said Cha.

Finance is one of the four pillar industries of Shenzhen, with the other three being the high-tech, logistics and cultural industries.

In its latest effort to boost the financial industry, the Shenzhen government recently raised the maximum award for setting up a new financial institution in Shenzhen from 5 million yuan (US$625,000) to 10 million yuan.