Chengze Forum: Understanding China’s Financial System
Oct 16-2022
On October 13, the NSD and China Finance 40 (CF40) co-organized the 8th edition of Chengze Forum, with the support of People’s Daily Publishing House. The event, themed The Logic and Direction of China’s Financial Reform and having both online and offline participation, put the book Understanding China’s Financial System in the focal point and featured the speeches of its two authors and guest speakers.
Mr. Ding Ding, Editor-in-Chief of People’s Daily Publishing House, thanked the authors for a book of immense significance and shared his reflections on the book.
Wang Xun, Associate Researcher of the NSD and co-author of the book, spoke on the characteristics and achievements of China’s financial reform. Based on extensive analysis of the salient features of China’s financial system, he pointed out that the most important experience of the country’s financial reform is ‘pragmatism. As the reform goes into the next stage, he believed that it must adhere to a marketized path, develop the equity market, strengthen the internal governance and institutional construction of financial institutions, encourage innovations in digital finance, and improve the capability of financial oversight.
Prof. Zhang Jianhua, former President of Huaxia Bank, shared his insight into the challenges for China’s financial industry and proposed solutions for deepening financial reform. He advocated resolutely relying on the market for reform and avoiding overreliance on administrative measures; he also highlighted the importance of conducting systematic planning and applying big-nation financial mentality.
Prof. Huang Yiping, Associate Dean of the NSD and co-author of the book, drew attention to some pitfalls in the reform process. He cautioned against turning expedient measures into long-term policies. One example concerned the Central Government tasking local ones to maintain financial stability, which, for Prof. Huang, could only be a temporary action because the local governments might not be capable of conforming to regulatory requirements and handling risks.
