BEIJING, Oct. 26 (Xinhua Silk Road) -- Chinese financial policymakers and regulators sent policy signals to further support the development of cross-border financial cooperation at the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2026 held in Beijing from October 19 to 22.
Several favorable policies regarding further facilitating cross-border investment and financing, deepening institutional opening-up in the financial sector, and expanding channels for cross-border financial cooperation were outlined at the forum, aiming to provide overseas institutions with more practical guidance on participating in China's financial markets.
-- New measures to support global cooperation and competition to be unveiled
China will introduce a series of new measures to support companies to participate more effectively in international cooperation and competition, said Zhu Hexin, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) in his speech at the forum.
The new measures will focus on three areas: facilitating current-account transactions to meet the diverse settlement needs of foreign trade companies; optimizing foreign exchange management under the capital account to facilitate cross-border investment, financing and capital allocation, supporting both foreign investment in China and Chinese companies' expansion overseas; and expanding pilot programs that allow securities firms to conduct foreign exchange settlement and sales, helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) manage exchange rate risks.
In recent years, the SAFE has introduced a series of policy packages to support foreign trade, facilitate cross-border investment and financing, and advance the development of pilot free trade zones. By the end of September 2026, these measures had benefited more than 150,000 market entities, with transactions totaling over three trillion U.S. dollars, Zhu said.
While outlining the new initiatives, Zhu stressed the importance of balancing financial opening-up with risk prevention, noting that the deeper the opening-up, the greater the need to safeguard financial security. The SAFE will continue to strengthen monitoring and early-warning mechanisms for cross-border capital flows, alongside macroprudential management, he added.
-- Expanding market opportunities for foreign institutions and broadening business pilot programs
Ding Xiangqun, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), emphasized in her speech the importance of continuing to foster a fair, transparent, and stable policy environment.
She said that the NFRA would steadily advance institutional opening-up initiatives in the financial sector, support more foreign financial institutions and long-term capital in establishing and expanding their operations in China. The NFRA would respond promptly to the concerns of foreign institutions and continue to improve the regulatory framework and institutional rules, she added.
In terms of business development, foreign financial institutions are being encouraged to leverage their strengths in wealth management, pension and healthcare services, and green finance, while participating in a broader range of business pilot programs.
Ding also noted that Chinese financial institutions already operate in more than 70 countries and regions. She encouraged them to pursue concrete cooperation with foreign financial institutions in areas such as trade, investment, and technology, with the shared goal of safeguarding the stability of global industrial and supply chains.
-- Expanding domestic foreign exchange market access opens new path for cross-border financial cooperation
Addressing the opening ceremony of the forum, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the PBOC, announced plans to launch a pilot program enabling eight Chinese and foreign RMB clearing banks operating overseas to further facilitate foreign financial institutions' RMB purchase and sale transactions in China's domestic foreign exchange market.
He noted that, in line with international financial market practices and trading conventions, the initiative would enable these institutions to conduct proprietary trading in China's interbank foreign exchange market, allowing overseas institutions to participate more deeply in the domestic foreign exchange market and promoting greater integration between onshore and offshore markets. Pan explicitly stated that China would further expand access to its foreign exchange market based on the results of the pilot program.
Meanwhile, the PBOC plans to extend eligibility for its overseas central bank repo facility to overseas RMB clearing banks. Established in June this year, the facility enables overseas central banks and monetary authorities, international financial organizations, and sovereign wealth funds to obtain RMB liquidity from the PBOC through bond repurchase agreements. It is designed to facilitate RMB liquidity management and the allocation of RMB-denominated assets, and has attracted widespread attention and positive feedback.
With a theme of "Building an Open, Collaborative and Inclusive Ecosystem for Global Financial Development," this year's conference attracted prominent guests from over 40 countries and regions to discuss issues including high-quality financial opening-up, global financial governance, cross-border investment and financial technology. (Edited by Li Xueqing with Xinhua Silk Road, lixueqing@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
