The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) will encourage mainland Chinese insurers and banks to set up headquarters in Hong Kong for international operations, said the head of the regulatory agency, Mr Li Yunze.
The mainland financial regulator supports all-round cooperation between insurers and banks in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland to provide one-stop financial services jointly for Chinese firms investing overseas.
Speaking on 19 November at the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit held in Hong Kong, Mr Li also said that the NFRA would promote cooperation between mainland and Hong Kong insurers and banks in emerging areas such as green and low-carbon developments and artificial intelligence.
Hong Kong and Macau
The NFRA will promote cross-border cooperation in retirement finance in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area to address the needs of Hong Kong and Macau residents who retire on the mainland.
The NFRA will also enhance the openness of the mainland’s financial sector to Hong Kong and Macau and help build Hong Kong into an international risk management centre. Mr Li said that the necessary regulatory changes to implement financial opening-up measures under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) for Hong Kong and Macau will be completed as soon as possible.
He added that new policies to enhance financial services in the Greater Bay Area will also be developed. Changes to the CEPA include removing the $2bn total asset requirement for financial institutions in the two territories seeking to invest in mainland insurers.
Currently, NFRA’s efforts to promote Hong Kong as a financial hub include backing mainland insurers to issue catastrophe bonds in the territory to boost the reinsurance market.
He reiterated that China’s financial sector will open its door wider and that the NFRA firmly supports Hong Kong in consolidating and enhancing its role as an international financial centre.
At the same time, the NFRA will improve communication on financial supervision between the mainland and Hong Kong to jointly address risk challenges.