财新国际圆桌·马德里丨开拓中欧资本市场新通道

Caixin Roundtable Madrid

Bridging China and European Union Capital Markets

As China rebalances its economy and opens up further its financial market, the rest of the world is looking at China with more interest and with the expectation of renewed business and investment opportunities. With this backdrop and on the sidelines of annual meetings of the Group of Thirty, Caixin Media and Elcano Royal Institute will jointly host a roundtable on May 23, in Madrid.

The event will be intimate and high-level with no more than 30 participants, joined by policy makers, business leaders, financial professionals and leading academics from China, European countries and beyond. The event, under the theme of “Bridging China and European Union Capital Markets”, will feature a keynote dialogue by Zhou Xiaochuan, former Governor of the People’s Bank of China, and Jean-Claude Trichet, former Governor of European Central Bank, followed by moderated discussion on China’s financial opening-up and China-EU financial market connectivity, among others.

15:30-16:00    Registration and Networking

16:00-16:10    Opening Remarks

• Huang Shan, Deputy Managing Editor and Editorial Board Member, Caixin Media

• Emilio Lamo de Espinosa, Chairman, Elcano Royal Institute

16:10-16:40    Keynote Dialogue

• Zhou Xiaochuan, President of China Society for Finance and Banking, former Governor of the People’s Bank of China

• Jean-Claude Trichet, Honorary Chairman of Group of Thirty, former President of the European Central Bank

16:40-18:00    Moderated Discussion

Topic I: China’s Financial Sector Reforms and Opening-up

China’s integration into the global financial system has reached a point of no return. As the return on assets slows down, the government shifts its focus for the financial sector away from deleveraging to supporting growth. Brokerage, banking and insurance, which have been restricted for decades, are to be opened up with foreign capital treated on equal terms as local capital.

- What’s the implication of China’s supply-side structural reform in the financial sector? Will interest rates become market-based? Will the Renminbi become convertible? Will banks begin to price capital economically? How will China improve its exchange rate policy?

- How will China coordinate its fiscal and monetary policy to support economic growth, the job market and investment while maintaining price stability?

- Given the massive Chinese banks and their increasingly large presence in the world, including Europe, and the very rapid growth of China’s bond market both onshore and offshore, what opportunities are there for foreign investors and institutions angling for a bigger share of China’s wealth?

Topic II: China-EU Capital Market Connectivity

China is prepared to take much larger strides towards allowing cross-border investment flows. It will further ease foreign investor access to the country’s onshore markets by expanding the investment scope via such inbound investment programs as QFII and RQFII, and exploring more mutual market access (MMA) schemes such as Stock Connect, Bond Connect and the Mutual Recognition of Funds.

- How should China streamline its access channels to promote high-quality opening of China’s capital markets and attract more long-term overseas capital?

- How can China and EU explore innovative modes of financial cooperation and connectivity to improve access to finance for enterprises, in particular SMEs, and promote China-EU trade and investment facilitation?

- How should China and EU align their regulatory standards to improve financial market reliability and stability?

- How can China and EU’s capital markets support RMB internationalization, Belt & Road Initiative and green finance?

- What’s the prospect of Chinese outbound investments amid China-U.S trade dispute and EU’s latest move labelling China as “systemic rival”?

List of Participants

• Zhou Xiaochuan, President of China Society for Finance and Banking, Former Governor of the People’s Bank of China

• Jean-Claude Trichet, Honorary Chairman of Group of Thirty, Former President of the European Central Bank

• Nadia Calviño, Minister of Economy of Spain

• Pablo Hernández de Cos, Governor of the Central Bank of Spain

• Emilio Lamo de Espinosa, Chairman, Elcano Royal Institute

• Li Xin, Vice President of Caixin Media, Managing Director of Caixin Global

• HUANG Shan, Deputy Managing Editor and Editorial Board Member, Caixin Media

• Yang Xiaojun, President of 9F Group

• Zhou Jing, President, PINTEC Group