City banks on future of financial sector

As the birthplace of jiaozi, the world's earliest form of paper currency which appeared in the city around the 10th century, Chengdu has a prominent place in China's financial history.

The city is seizing the opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative to boost its financial sector. It is planning to develop into a financial center in China's western region by 2020.

The added value of Chengdu's financial industry is expected to reach 200 billion yuan ($30 billion) by 2020, accounting for 26 percent of the city's service sector and 14 percent of its GDP, according to the Chengdu Financial Office.

City leaders believe that the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting will help the city to achieve the goal. The meeting is one of the most influential events held in Chengdu after the 2013 Fortune Global Forum and the 12th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention.

Since it was designated by the State Council as the financial center of the southwestern region in the 1990s, Chengdu has been upgrading its financial sector.

Last year, the added value of Chengdu's financial industry was 125.4 billion yuan, a 15.5 percent increase on the previous year. The financial sector accounts for 11.6 percent of the city's GDP.

There are more foreign financial institutions in Chengdu than in any other city in China's central and western regions. By the end of last year, it was home to 16 foreign banks, 17 foreign insurance companies, and six foreign equity investment funds.

Chengdu has set up a city development fund of 80 billion yuan with Ping An Bank.

It also encourages the development of venture capital and equity funds to support the growth of technological and small- and medium-sized enterprises.

During the 2016 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair, the city established its first government investment fund - the Chengdu Qianhai Industrial Investment Fund - with an investment of 40 billion yuan for the first phase.

The city is also upgrading its infrastructure to aid the development of the financial sector.

The Chengdu Financial City, established in 2009 and covering a total area of 5 square kilometers in the south of the city, is the major industrial area for Chengdu to develop its finance industry.

The financial city had attracted 302 financial companies by the end of last year.

Chengdu is also striving to strengthen its international competitiveness by developing high-tech industries such as IT, bio-pharmaceuticals, automobiles and rail transit. The city has become one of China's major IT bases. Half of the world's laptop chips are tested and packaged in Chengdu, and two-thirds of the globes' iPads are made in the city.

Longquanyi district in eastern Chengdu is an important production base for FAW-Volkswagen, FAW Toyota, Volvo, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, with vehicle production forecast to exceed 1 million units this year.

(China Daily 07/23/2016 page25)