A view of Hong Kong File Photo: VCG

China's financial sector will continue to open wider and the country is committed to creating a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment to support foreign institutions to participate more comprehensively and deeply in the Chinese financial market, Chinese senior officials said on Tuesday at the ongoing 2024 Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit held in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). 

While voicing strong confidence in Hong Kong's strengthened position as an international financial center under the support of the central government, they also anticipated the city to play a greater role in expanding financial opening-up and cooperation. 

Observers said that those remarks further sent a resounding signal on the country's commitment to high-level opening-up, in particular in the two-way opening-up of the financial sector. It is expected that the inflow of more foreign capital will inject new impetus into China's economic growth momentum and promote the sound development of the Chinese capital market. 

As a result, foreign investors will also be able to share the development dividends of an open China, analysts said. 

"We hope that the HKSAR seizes the historic opportunities brought by the country's reform and development, continuously deepens financial reform and innovation, expands financial openness and cooperation, actively aligns with national development strategies, and steadfastly safeguards financial security," He Lifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Vice Premier, said in a speech delivered to the summit on Tuesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

He hoped that on the new journey, Hong Kong would continue to write a brilliant chapter in advancing the practice of One Country, Two Systems.

The 2024 Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit, the third of its kind, took place in Hong Kong from Monday to Wednesday. 

Prominent leaders from global financial institutions including banks, securities companies, asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, private equity and venture capital firms, are participating in the summit, according to a statement on the website of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the event's organizer.

With regard to financial opening-up, Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), said at the summit that the NFRA will continue to deepen the reform and opening-up of the financial industry, while focusing on creating a business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, the China News Service reported. 

"The country welcomes global investors to conduct business in China," Li noted.

During the summit, Chinese officials also detailed more measures to deepen the two-way opening-up of China's capital market and facilitate cross-border investment. 

Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), China's top securities regulator, stressed that efforts will be made to further ensure the smooth operation of overseas financing channels, and the CSRC will actively support eligible Chinese mainland enterprises in pursuing public listings abroad, the Securities Times reported. 

China will further expand connectivity with overseas markets as well as broaden the scope of eligible stocks under the Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen Hong Kong Stock connects to attract long-term overseas capital to the Chinese mainland market.

Tian Yun, an economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the remarks from Chinese officials mirrored policymakers' stepped-up efforts to open up China's financial sector, including the stock and bond markets. 

"The entry of more overseas financial institutions gives their Chinese mainland peers an opportunity to learn and grow. Meanwhile, it allows foreign investors, who are optimistic on the outlook of the Chinese economy, to tap into China's development dividends," Tian said. He also noted that China's financial development will serve as the cornerstone of global economic growth.

As Chinese assets increasingly rise as a "safe haven" for global investors, it is important that the Chinese mainland market keeps integrating with overseas capital markets to shore up the growth momentum, according to Tian, who in particular highlighted Hong Kong's role as a "super-connector."

According to Li, as part of the measures to elevate Hong Kong's status as a global financial center, the NFRA will actively support Chinese-funded banks and insurance institutions to open regional headquarters in Hong Kong. It will also work with HKSAR authorities to jointly address risks and further improve the bilateral communication mechanism on financial regulation. 

Liang Haiming, chairman of the Hong Kong-based China Silk Road iValley Research Institute, told the Global Times on Tuesday that he hopes that Hong Kong could seize the opportunities presented by the central government's package of incremental policies to fortify its status as an international financial, trade and logistics center, therefore achieving "sustained economic stability and development."