Qianhai financiers ready for new biz opportunities

At a press conference held yesterday morning, some financiers in Qianhai said that they are ready to embrace newer and greater business opportunities brought by the 30 new financial measures boosting the financial cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong that were released Thursday.

The press conference was simultaneously held in Shenzhen’s Qianhai and Zhuhai’s Hengqin and was attended by government officials and entrepreneurs in Guangdong, who interpreted the underlying significance of the financial policies rolled out by the People's Bank of China, the People’s Government of Guangdong and national financial authorities exclusively for Qianhai and Hengqin, respectively.

The new measures for Qianhai stipulate six major initiatives such as deepening financial cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, prioritizing financial innovation in the interest of people’s livelihoods and building a financial service system with better quality, more variety and more convenience for people’s livelihoods in the Greater Bay Area; deepening the interconnection of financial markets and infrastructure between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, strengthening Qianhai’s role as a pilot zone for cross-border RMB business innovation; and advocating Qianhai to further open up its financial industry, pilot reform of foreign exchange management and the internationalization of the RMB, and strengthen its role as a pilot demonstration window of the opening up of China’s financial industry.

David Liao, co-chief executive of HSBC Asia-Pacific said that he believes the new financial measures for Qianhai marks another acceleration of the interconnection of the Shenzhen and Hong Kong financial markets.

“The measures are conducive to further improving the level of cross-border financial services in the Greater Bay Area and providing support for the deep integration of the Greater Bay Area economy,” said Liao. “In addition, the measures include a number of cross-border financial innovations to meet the needs of Hong Kong residents and Qianhai enterprises. We believe that the orderly implementation of the new measures will further unleash the demand for cross-border financial services in the Greater Bay Area and create broad development opportunities for HSBC and other financial institutions.”

According to Liao, HSBC, as the largest locally incorporated bank in Hong Kong and the largest international bank on the Chinese mainland and in the Greater Bay Area, has deployed many business sectors including banking, insurance, securities, financial technology, and customer service in Guangdong. With more than 20,000 employees in Guangdong, the bank has contributed to the financial cooperation and talent exchanges between Guangdong and Hong Kong. He added that HSBC has participated in Qianhai’s developmentsince 2012, and has purchased an office building in Qianhai to serve as HSBC’s regional headquarters, which will be put into use next year.

Li Nanqing, president of WeBank said: “The new financial support for Qianhai and Hengqin is another major policy benefit and guarantee for the Greater Bay Area to deepen reform and opening up and promote financial innovation. As the first private and digital bank in China that was born and grown in Qianhai, WeBank eagerly looks forward to the early release of relevant implementation rules of the new measures.”

Li also said WeBank will give full play to its own advantages and strengths, grasp the innovative development opportunities given by the two policies, and strive to make greater contributions to Hong Kong's cooperation with Shenzhen and other cities in Guangdong. WeBank will also contribute to the financial reform and innovation in the Greater Bay Area, and to the high-quality development of national inclusive finances.

Ying Jian, a principal strategist of the Hong Kong Financial Research Institute of the Bank of China, believes that the new measures will further promote the free flow of financial factors between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and help Hong Kong’s financial industry use Qianhai’s platform to expand their business in the Greater Bay Area, and help Hong Kong better integrate into the overall development of the country as a financial center and maintain its prosperity and stability.

“The new policy has attracted the close attention of Hong Kong institutions. Many of the measures are what Hong Kong’s financial industry is striving for. Now we will conduct research on the new policies and innovate our products, so as to promote cooperation between the two places, and better serve enterprises in Qianhai and Hong Kong,” Ying explained.

Zhou Xing, deputy general manager of China Merchants Financial Holdings Co. Ltd., said that many of the new measures fit well with the company’s development strategy.

“In the future, the member companies of China Merchants Financial Holdings can provide more Hong Kong and mainland residents with cross-border financial services at home and abroad, and can also provide cross-border financial support for more enterprises, especially small, medium and micro enterprises and technological innovation enterprises. It is expected that our relevant business volume will increase,” he said.