A view of Hong Kong File Photo: VCG

China's financial sector will continue to open up wider, and the country will support foreign institutions in participating more comprehensively and deeply in the Chinese financial market, officials said on Tuesday at the ongoing 2024 Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit held in Hong Kong.

Observers said that the remarks further send 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 the inflow of more foreign capital will inject new impetus to China's economic growth momentum and promote the sound development of Chinese capital market. Meanwhile, as a result, foreign investors will also be able to share the development dividends of an open China, analysts said. 

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, focusing on creating a business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, the Beijing Daily reported. 

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

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

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

During the summit, Chinese officials, while extending the olive branches to foreign financial institutions, 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 China Securities Regulatory Commission (CRSC), 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. 

Also, 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 Connect programs to attract overseas long-term capital to Chinese mainland market.

Tian Yun, an economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the remarks from Chinese officials mirrored the policymakers' stepped-up efforts to open up China's financial sector, including equities and bonds markets. 
"The entering of more overseas financial institutions gives the Chinese mainland peers an opportunity to learn and grow. Meanwhile, it allows foreign investors, who are optimist on the outlook of Chinese economy, to tap into the China's development dividends," Tian said. 

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 highlighted Hong Kong's role as a "super-connector."