China's financial risks 'controllable': regulators
The head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration on Thursday told a high-profile forum in Shanghai that the country is open for business. Li Yunze made the remarks at the annual Lujiazui Forum, where financial heavyweights from HSBC, Credit Agricole, Merrill Lynch, Mizuho Financial, Schroders and Paypal were present. He expressed confidence that the nation's financial risks are "controllable" despite a series of banking crises around the world. "We warmly welcome foreign-funded institutions with sound operations and excellent qualifications to expand their business in China," Li said. "Opening up is China's long-term national policy, and the door of China's financial industry will only be opened wider and wider." The world's second-largest economy, keen for foreign investment to support its reopening after three years of Covid restrictions, has played host in recent months to high-profile overseas CEOs including Tesla's Elon Musk and Goldman Sachs Group's David Solomon. But foreign investment has slowed since the economy lost the momentum of a robust first quarter, while a post-pandemic stock rally faded as small investors turned bearish on equities and doubled down on safer assets, wary of an uneven economic recovery. Yi Huiman, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, told the same forum that the nation will "adamantly push for comprehensive deregulation in terms of market access, institution qualification and products". He also vowed to further support self-sufficiency using capital market policies, stressing the importance of independence in high technology. (Reuters, additional reporting by RTHK)