From June 8th to 9th , the 14th Lujiazui Forum was held in Shanghai. This year's theme is "Global Financial Opening and Cooperation: A New Power to Guide Economic Recovery" . Here, it is expected to collide with new ideas and new suggestions on promoting global economic recovery and financial stability, and promoting China's financial reform and opening up. At this time, it is also necessary to look back at the new progress of Shanghai in building an "upgraded version" of an international financial center over the past year or so.
From supporting the development of the offshore bond market in the Free Trade Zone, to gathering Chinese and foreign financial institutions, and expanding the business network of the RMB cross-border payment system, these practices have given Shanghai International Financial Center more international connotations. Looking into the future, how will Shanghai further build an "upgraded version" of an international financial center?
linking multiple regions to create a highland for REITs development
Over the past year, Shanghai has taken advantage of its capital market advantages to jointly build REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust Fund) highlands.
On May 30 , 2022 , the Yangtze River Delta Infrastructure REITs Industry Alliance was established . On March 28 , 2023 , the Yangtze River Delta G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor Public Offering REITS Alliance was established.
" REITs are a particularly important financial product. I think its importance is becoming more and more important now. The reason is that it is aimed at financing the real estate industry. Now that real estate has entered a new stage, there are many stock assets. These How to bring in more funds from the capital market to revitalize assets is very important."
Hu Jie, a professor at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance at Shanghai Jiaotong University, said that as far as Shanghai is concerned, this field should naturally be at the forefront.
If the REITs move faster, it will indeed be able to become the center of the country in this product line in the next stage of development. The REITs alliance is mainly a mechanism for communication and cooperation within the industry. From the perspective of building an international financial center, REITs themselves are also an important category.
Yan Hong, academic associate dean of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance of Shanghai Jiaotong University and professor of finance, said that the development of the REITs market is still relatively vigorous. As an emerging asset product in China's capital market, REITs are of great significance to the integration and development of the entire real estate industry.
If Shanghai can link multiple regions to create a highland for the development of REITs , it can make full use of the advantages of Shanghai's capital market, revitalize the stock assets of the real estate industry through the capital market, and promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry. This is conducive to enriching the types of products in the capital market, increasing the scope of asset allocation, and making Shanghai, as an international financial center, able to cover more complete asset classes.
Actively develop the offshore debt market in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone
In 2022 , Shanghai will support the issuance of offshore bonds in the free trade zone, and realize the implementation of innovative businesses such as the first ABS in the free trade zone , the first green ABS , and the first bond issued by the standby letter of credit.
Qiao Yide, vice president and secretary-general of the Shanghai Development Research Foundation and an expert at the International Finance and Economics Research Expert Studio of the Ministry of Finance, said, "Offshore debt can be said to be a step forward. The liquidation and custody of offshore debt is in our country. Its own agency, ChinaBond, is listed on it, and offshore bonds are good for the internationalization of the renminbi. Although offshore bonds can also be issued in US dollars, the currency that is more commonly used now is renminbi.
Due to the cross-border use of renminbi, there may be some renminbi overseas, and overseas renminbi can be invested in offshore bonds, which can promote the cross-border flow of renminbi, which is good for promoting the internationalization of renminbi and the free flow of cross-border funds. At the same time, encouraging the development of third-party payment platforms overseas will also help the internationalization of the RMB and the flow of funds. "
Yan Hong said that the development of the offshore bond market itself is very important for the internationalization of RMB and the operation and investment of offshore RMB.
Putting the offshore bond market in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone can not only realize the offshore function, but also enable Shanghai's financial institutions to participate in the construction and operation of the entire market, which plays a very important role in the construction of Shanghai's international financial center. support and propulsion.
Yan Hong suggested that the construction of the offshore bond market in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone can refer to some tried-and-tested practices of the corresponding international offshore bond market.
"Refer to international best practices to avoid detours, extensively strengthen the internationalization of our financial institutions, so that they can be more competitive in the international market, and at the same time make our offshore bond market more international and more attractive to overseas investors. Investor participation."
Hu Jie believes that through offshore bonds, Chinese companies can issue bonds to raise foreign capital, which is a specific measure to attract foreign funds to flow to domestic projects through the Shanghai International Financial Center, and should be vigorously developed.
