'HK can help develop the mainland capital market'
A vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Fang Xinghai, told the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit on Wednesday that Hong Kong plays an important role in the further growth of the mainland economy, such as developing its capital market. Fang said the SAR is an important international financial centre for China and the rest of the world. "Here at home, we're full speed ahead in terms of building up a high-quality capital market. But that takes some time," he said in a pre-recorded video. "Hong Kong is already a high-quality capital market. So, for China's economic growth, we need Hong Kong, Hong Kong can play a very important role in help grow the Chinese economy." Fang also highlighted three policies announced by the CSRC about a month ago to strengthen Hong Kong's role in attracting international companies to go public in the SAR. One of them is to allow greater access by mainland investors to tap into listed companies in Hong Kong via the Stock Connect scheme. Fang also said the goal of China's opening up is to attract first-class international players to the country.  "We welcome them all," he said. The CSRC vice chairman said he'd heard enthusiastic responses from international companies that want to do business in China, and urged investors to find out for themselves what happened in the country. "I'm afraid some of them have read too much the international media report about events in China. Because a lot of media reports... they really don't understand China very well and they have a short-term focus." Fang added, "Don't bet against China and Hong Kong." Meanwhile, the governor of the People's Bank of China, Yi Gang, said the mainland economy has remained broadly on track despite some challenges and downward pressure. China's GDP grew 3.9 percent in July-September from a year earlier. The central bank chief also said the renminbi will remain relatively stable.