CCI-FS: China’s Inland Metropolis Aims at Financial Innovation

Raffles City Chongqing, invested by Singapore, is targeted to open in phases from 2019

By Keqiao Cheng, EDITOR

The first edition of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiative Financial Summit (hereinafter referred to as CCI-FS) is to be held in West China’s Chongqing November 2, 2018.

Dozens of VIPs will show up at the event, including heads of central banks and regulatory authorities of China, Singapore and ASEAN, executives of international financial institutions, scholars and experts, media, and government representatives of West China.

According to reports, the financial policy innovation has successfully made 41 innovative policies introduced in China. Correspondingly, Singapore has made 19 similar policies.

For instance, these policies, aiming at mutual financial cooperation, will help build the cross-border financing channels between the vast western regions of China and ASEAN. Besides this, it will optimize the efficiency of cross-border financial settlement.

90 projects with about USD 20 billion, which include the newly established Sino-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Private Equity Fund and the International Investment Roadshow Center, are being accelerated due to these policies.

The cross-border financing has reached USD 7.56 billion. It has notably decreased the financing cost of China’s western regions.

Sliced management of foreign debts quota

Following Shanghai, Tianjin, Fujian Province and Guangdong Province, Chongqing has newly benefited the pilot program of sliced management reform of foreign debts quota. The authorized annual foreign debts quota is USD 3 billion. And it will highly facilitate the cross-border financing of Chongqing.

Up to now, the cross-border financing quota supported by this policy has reached USD 5.4 billion.

Banks carry out services on cross-border financing guarantee

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has approved the exclusive policy which allows banks in Chongqing to offer services on cross-border financing guarantee. Of the total of USD 7 billion cross-border financing, about USD 5 billion have benefited from the policy.

Equity investment fund allows Chongqing to invest flexibly

As another innovative measure, the central bank of China has allowed Chongqing to establish equity investment fund for foreign investment. And, the investment can be done with Chinese currency, the renminbi.

In comparison with Suzhou and Tianjin, which also have benefited from the China-Singapore government-government projects, the policy for Chongqing is more flexible since the investment of the former two has to be inside ASEAN. While for Chongqing, there is no such restriction.

In other fields, the CCI is also accelerating the innovation, to offer more advanced financial service and support. The financial summit is expected to promote the China-Singapore financial cooperation. Furthermore, it will promote the financial exchange of countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative, and fully release and inspire the vitality of the financial industry.

Source: Organizing Committee of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity Financial Summit

For more information about the CCI-FS, please visit the article.