Pan Gongsheng: Steadily Promoting High-Level Opening of the Financial Sector

Odaily News According to Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, speaking at the China Development Forum 2026 Annual Conference on March 22, China will steadily promote the high-level opening of its financial sector. Efforts will be made to deepen the connectivity of financial markets and cross-border payment systems, facilitating more investors to invest in China's financial markets. The scale of China's stock and bond markets both rank second globally, with market depth, resilience, and liquidity continuously improving. By the end of 2025, overseas institutions and individuals held over 10 trillion yuan in RMB-denominated financial assets within China, including stocks, bonds, deposits, and loans. Overseas investors are welcome to participate in and invest in China's financial markets. In recent years, the internationalization of the RMB has made positive progress, providing more diversified currency options for domestic and international entities. Currently, RMB financing costs are relatively low. In 2025, governments, international development institutions, financial institutions, and large enterprises from multiple countries issued over 170 billion yuan in Panda bonds, with an even larger scale of offshore RMB bonds issued in Hong Kong. China will continue to improve the institutional arrangements for cross-border RMB use and the construction of financial infrastructure. It will engage in diversified monetary and financial cooperation, promote the development of the offshore RMB market, and provide convenience for cross-border trade and investment and financing activities. (People's Bank of China)