A view of Shanghai, China's major financial hub and destination for foreign investment Photo:VCG

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) vowed to step up efforts to prevent and defuse financial risks and crack down on illegal activities that endangers national security in the financial field, noting that certain countries are using the financial sector as geopolitical tool and some speculators are trying to stir up financial turmoil in China. 

In a post on its official WeChat account, after the high-level, tone-setting central financial work conference, the MSS said that the national security authorities will be staunch guardians of the country's financial security, underscoring China's effectiveness in swiftly carrying out policies set by the top leadership.   

The central financial work conference, which concluded on Tuesday, stressed the need to improve the financial system, optimize financial services, prevent and resolve risks, unswervingly follow the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics. Preventing financial risks should be an eternal theme, the meeting said, highlighting the great importance China's top leadership attaches to financial security. 

In the post, the MSS stressed that the financial industry is the lifeblood of the national economy, an important component of national core competitiveness, and is also a key part of national security. 

The ministry noted growing financial risks and the danger they pose to economic development and the global economy as a whole, adding that China has made major progress in preventing and defusing financial risks and protecting national security and interests in the financial area. 

However, the MSS also emphasized that China's current financial security is facing challenges and risks. Certain individual countries use the financial industry as a tool for geopolitical games and frequently imposes financial sanctions, it said. 

Meanwhile, some people with ulterior motives are trying to create chaos and profit from it, with various types of speculators trying to either smear China's financial industry in an attempt to undermine global confidence in China's investment market and cause financial turmoil in China. 

"These have brought new challenges to maintaining financial security under the new situation," the MSS said. 

The ministry vowed to elevate priority given to preventing and defusing financial risks to a more important position, actively participate in the construction of systems to safeguard national security in the economic and financial areas, step up monitoring and effectively preventing risks, and crack down and punish legal and criminal activities in the financial sector that endanger national security. 

Global Times