As the first free trade pilot zone in China, Shanghai Free Trade Zone took the lead in carrying out relevant financial reform and innovation experiments such as expanding cross-border use of RMB and convertibility of capital account to benefit enterprises in the zone
Now, the new district of Lingang is working hard to build a new financial highland and a model room for financial technology development, and is stepping up to build a financial city comparable to Lujiazui
Article | Outlook Newsweek reporter Yao Yujie and Sang Tong
In September 2013, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the first pilot free trade zone in China (hereinafter referred to as the Shanghai Free Trade Zone), was launched in Waigaoqiao, and a "national experiment" focusing on institutional innovation was launched.
Over the past nine years, Shanghai has built a "sandbox mechanism of financial reform and opening up and innovative supervision", and has successively established a number of innovative financial systems. The function of financial services to the real economy has been significantly enhanced, and a number of replicable and replicable "Shanghai experience" and "Shanghai model" have been formed. In the past three years since the listing of the new area near the port of Shanghai Free Trade Zone, it has achieved a new situation of high-level opening up of cross-border trade and investment in financial services and free flow of capital.
Continuous innovation in cross-border RMB business
In September 2013, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone was listed. In January of the next year, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone Branch of HSBC (China) Co., Ltd., located in Building 8, No. 88, Maji Road, Shanghai Free Trade Zone, officially opened, opening a new journey to explore the innovation of financial products and services.
As the first free trade zone in China, Shanghai Free Trade Zone took the lead in carrying out relevant financial reform and innovation experiments such as expanding cross-border use of RMB and convertibility of capital account to benefit enterprises in the zone.
Over the past nine years, various entities in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone have generated a total of 32.95 trillion yuan in cross-border RMB revenue and expenditure. The scale of cross-border RMB receipts and payments in Shanghai has ranked first in the country for consecutive years. In the first half of 2022, the total amount of cross-border RMB receipts and payments will account for 48.3% of the country. With the instructions of collection and payment, we have steadily developed innovative businesses such as handling RMB settlement under the current account and direct investment of institutions in the zone, RMB overseas borrowing in the Free Trade Zone, and cross-border two-way RMB capital pool in the Free Trade Zone.
In order to solve the problem of risk spillover in the process of financial opening, innovation and deepening reform in the Free Trade Zone, the Shanghai Head Office of the People's Bank of China, at the level of serving the real economy, has liberalized the front-line capital flow on the basis of macro prudence, and the capital is convertible and transferable; Limited penetration management is adopted for domestic second tier capital flow.
"This open policy has improved the business turnover speed of enterprises and ensured that they can still successfully carry out offshore international trade in the case of repeated global epidemics." Ma Jian, Vice President and Head of Industrial and Commercial Finance of HSBC Bank (China) Co., Ltd., introduced that a domestic bulk trade enterprise undertaking export trade through its Hong Kong subsidiary and using a large number of letters of credit for settlement, found the HSBC Free Trade Zone Branch to open a free trade zone account, and took the HSBC Free Trade Zone Branch as the main delivery bank and documentary bank. It is with the help of the policy of opening the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, including the free exchange of RMB and the free flow of funds inside and outside the zone, that this enterprise can discount letters of credit in dollars in the free trade account and then freely convert them into RMB.
According to the statistics of the Shanghai headquarters of the People's Bank of China, as of the end of August this year, the free trade account has handled a total of 131.5 trillion yuan of cross-border local and foreign currency settlement for enterprises with accounts, with an average annual growth of 95.1%; RMB settlement in China was 89.6 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth of 92.8%. At present, free trade account financial services have been extended to Tianjin, Guangdong Free Trade Zone and Hainan Free Trade Port.
Rongtong offshore onshore market
In order to deepen, broaden and make greater efforts to promote all-round and high-level opening, on August 20, 2019, a new port area located in the southeast corner of Shanghai was inaugurated.
In the past three years, a number of key financial institutions covering financial technology, banking, securities, funds and other fields have signed contracts to settle in, and the diversified financial formats have become increasingly mature. As a fulcrum, the port has become an important hub for financing the offshore market and the onshore market.
As one of the four offshore financial licensed institutions in China and the only state-owned commercial bank with both foreign currency and RMB offshore licenses, the Bank of Communications Offshore Financial Business Center entered the new area near the port in 2020, focusing on supporting key industrial clusters, and vigorously promoting offshore financial innovation and product design.
Among them, the cross-border offshore RMB equity financing products issued by Lingang Group are the first offshore financial products independently designed by domestic entities to land in overseas financial markets; The successful promotion of Zhongtai (Group) offshore bonds has set a milestone for the introduction of offshore bonds in the national free trade zone to overseas investors for the first time.
In February 2022, the pilot reform of foreign exchange management for high-level opening of cross-border trade and investment in the new area near the port of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone was launched, helping the financial innovation and high-level opening of the Free Trade Zone to a new level.
Shanghai Xinsheng Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., a high-tech enterprise, became one of the first pioneers. This enterprise, which is mainly engaged in the research, development, production and sales of semiconductor silicon chips, has frequent cross-border revenue and expenditure business and high payment time requirements. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has provided it with current account facilitation services. Enterprises can directly handle cross-border collection and payment based on collection and payment instructions, which has improved the efficiency of capital use.
In order to support the construction of a higher level open economic system in the new area near the port and take trade financing assets as a breakthrough, the new area branch of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone of the Bank of China successfully transferred the forfaiting assets under the Euro export letter of credit to the Bank of China, Tokyo Branch.
Introduction to relevant staff of Bank of China Shanghai Branch: "The implementation of this trade financing asset transfer business has broadened overseas financing channels for enterprises in the new port area. With the global resource allocation advantage of Bank of China, the cost of enterprise financing has been effectively reduced through 'two markets, two resources'. After the bank transfers trade financing assets to overseas markets, more overseas financial institutions can understand the operation and business level of domestic enterprises, help enterprises expand their overseas circle of friends, and achieve International development. "
As of August 31, 13 pilot banks, 79 high-quality enterprises and 3.86 billion US dollars of current account pilot business had been registered in Shanghai.
Interior view of Administrative Service Center of New Lingang District of Shanghai Free Trade Zone (taken on August 20, 2019)
Create a new engine for innovation and development
In the past nine years, the exploration and practice of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has become a vivid portrayal of promoting reform and development through opening up. A large number of system innovation pilot achievements, such as RMB overseas borrowing, cross-border two-way RMB capital pool, and cross-border RMB centralized collection and payment under current account, have been replicated and promoted nationwide, giving full play to the role of the reform and opening up pilot field.
Now, in order to better integrate and serve the major national strategies, the new port area is working hard to build a new financial highland and a model room for financial technology development, and is stepping up to build a financial city comparable to Lujiazui.
On the occasion of the third anniversary of the inauguration of the new Lingang District, the Administrative Committee of the new Lingang District released the Action Plan for Accelerating the Development of Emerging Financial Industries in the New Lingang District (2022-2025) (hereinafter referred to as the Action Plan), which specifies that by 2025, an emerging financial center featuring smart finance, openness and integration, coordination and good governance will be basically built; It is also proposed that by 2025, the number of financial enterprises of all kinds should be doubled, three to five leading enterprises with international reputation and a number of individual champions in subdivided fields should be cultivated, and a financial service system that is connected with international high standards should be built, with the annual growth rate of added value of the financial industry exceeding 25%.
To achieve the above goals, the Action Plan proposes 8 special actions. Among them, the cross-border financial special action promotes the construction of the international financial asset trading platform, and continues to deepen the pilot projects of qualified overseas limited partners (QFLP), qualified domestic limited partners (QDLP), and high-level opening of cross-border trade and investment; The special action of offshore finance supports banks to improve their offshore business level, give better play to the role of free trade accounts of overseas institutions, and carry out offshore finance in accordance with international practices.
In the opinion of Jin Penghui, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Shanghai Headquarters of the People's Bank of China and President of Shanghai Branch, the Action Plan highlights a "new" word, including new financial products, such as shipping derivatives. There are also new financial platforms, such as the international financial asset trading platform. There are also new institutional rules, such as the pilot of cross-border flow of financial data. Many of them are breakthrough and leading reforms and innovations, which need to be coordinated by multiple departments. The Shanghai headquarters of the People's Bank of China will coordinate with various departments to accelerate the cultivation and development of emerging financial formats and jointly create a new financial innovation highland.
Xie Dong, Director of Shanghai Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau, said that he would support the realization of the deep level linkage development between the new area near the port and the construction of the international financial center, and believed that the emerging financial innovation base of Dishui Lake would become a new engine for Shanghai's financial innovation and development.
