The focus is on the specific policy arrangements by the central bank regarding steadily expanding institutional openness, enhancing the international monetary function of RMB for investment and financing, improving the quality and efficiency of cross-border financial services, and supporting offshore finance and the digital yuan.
Standing at the new starting point of the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center has entered a critical stage of functional leap and global leadership. As the core gateway for the nation's financial reform and opening-up and the main front for RMB internationalization, Shanghai, following the national top-level design, is undertaking a new mission in serving the new development paradigm and supporting high-standard opening-up, with the strategic focus of building a global center for RMB asset allocation and risk management.
Recently, Jin Pengui, a deputy to the National People's Congress, Party Committee Deputy Secretary of the People's Bank of China Shanghai Headquarter, and Director concurrently Governor of the Shanghai Branch, provided an authoritative and systematic interpretation of the strategic positioning and practical path of the Shanghai International Financial Center under the national top-level planning. He detailed the central bank's specific policy arrangements in areas such as steadily expanding institutional openness, enhancing the international monetary function of RMB investment and financing, improving the quality and efficiency of cross-border financial services, and supporting offshore finance and the digital yuan.
Jin Penghui stated that current RMB financing interest rates are relatively low, making the choice of RMB as an international financing currency advantageous. Efforts will be intensified to promote the construction of free trade zones and offshore economic (financial) functional areas. Upgrading and optimizing the functions of free trade accounts and building offshore financial scenarios will open up broader space for cross-border RMB investment and financing.
Furthermore, Jin Pengui revealed that against the backdrop of persistent global trade protectionism, efforts will also be made to address the difficulties in exchanging "minor currencies." In terms of attracting foreign capital, there will be further expansion of the pilot enterprises for upgrading FT account functions, trial implementation of treasury center management business, advancement in building offshore economic (financial) functional areas, and continued promotion of reform and opening-up in the foreign exchange sector.
**Further Enhancing Shanghai's Offshore Function** Question: This year's government work report called for further expanding high-standard opening-up, adhering to win-win cooperation, and steadily expanding institutional openness. Shanghai has always been the bridgehead for domestic enterprises "going global." How will Shanghai's offshore function be further enhanced? What are the subsequent plans?
Jin Pengui: The construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center is a major national strategy proposed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council from the overall height of China's reform, opening-up, and socialist modernization. It is a core carrier for China's participation in international financial competition and an important engine for promoting high-quality development in finance and the economy.
The next steps include: First, continuing to standardize the pilot business of the high-version cross-border capital pool "Version 3.0" in the field of foreign exchange management, continuously optimizing the business environment, extending policy benefits to more market entities, and better supporting the development of Shanghai's headquarters economy.
Second, orderly promoting pilot programs focusing on tech finance and green finance, such as facilitating green external debt and cross-border financing for technology enterprises, enhancing the capacity for cross-border financial services in key areas, and encouraging and supporting pioneering and integrated exploratory policies to be implemented first in Shanghai.
Third, supporting more eligible entities to issue free trade offshore bonds, promoting the development of a secondary trading market for these bonds, expanding the pilot comprehensive reform for offshore trade financial services in the Lingang New Area, and deepening the pilot program for upgrading FT account functions. These specific reform tasks will accumulate experience and pave the way for Shanghai's development of offshore finance.
Fourth, cooperating with relevant municipal departments to systematically plan the offshore financial framework and conduct legislative research for the "Shanghai Pudong New Area Offshore Financial Management Measures."
**Promoting the Cross-border Use of RMB** Question: The government work report placed "expanding the cross-border use of RMB" in a more prominent position. What specific measures will Shanghai introduce to further enhance the international monetary function of RMB for investment and financing?
Jin Pengui: For a long time, the cross-border RMB business of Shanghai's financial institutions has been at the forefront nationally, providing strong support for the high-quality development of the real economy.
In 2025, the cross-border RMB receipt and payment volume in Shanghai reached 324 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9%, accounting for 46% of the national total, maintaining the top position in China. Among these, the RMB cross-border receipt and payment for "current account + direct investment (excluding capital pools)" totaled 35 trillion yuan, up 14% year-on-year, which is 5 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate. Cross-border RMB receipts and payments under portfolio investment amounted to 242 trillion yuan, an increase of 8%, accounting for over 70% of the total volume, playing a significant role in enhancing Shanghai's status as a global center for RMB asset allocation.
Shanghai will further promote the cross-border use of RMB in the following aspects: First, facilitating cross-border fund settlement. Expanding the coverage and beneficiary scope of cross-border RMB facilitation policies, including more eligible enterprises in the list of high-quality enterprises for RMB settlement. Utilizing online, paperless methods like electronic document review to enhance business processing convenience and fund arrival efficiency, better meeting the needs of various entities for RMB transaction settlement, investment, financing, and risk management.
Second, effectively serving the real economy. Focusing on key enterprises, key areas, and key regions, encouraging market entities to use RMB for pricing and settlement in cross-border trade and investment. Seizing the favorable opportunity of low RMB interest rates, actively conducting RMB offshore loan business through domestic-foreign linkage, helping "going global" enterprises solve difficulties and high costs of overseas financing, and better safeguarding China's overseas interests.
Third, continuously advancing high-standard financial opening. Steadily expanding institutional openness in rules, regulations, management, and standards, and accelerating the construction of a global center for RMB asset allocation and risk management.
Fourth, precisely preventing financial risks. Balancing risk prevention and development promotion, continuously advancing technology empowerment, strictly implementing anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and counter-proliferation financing measures, promptly identifying abnormal cross-border capital flows, and building firewalls, breakwaters, and seawalls to prevent and defuse external shocks. This ensures the cross-border use of RMB progresses steadily while maintaining safety bottom lines. Simultaneously, increasing exchange rate risk management, promoting the concept of exchange rate risk neutrality, and encouraging enterprises to use hedging tools to mitigate exchange rate risks.
We also note that current RMB financing interest rates are relatively low, making RMB advantageous as an international financing currency. We will vigorously promote the construction of free trade zones and offshore economic (financial) functional areas, using the upgrade and optimization of free trade account functions and the construction of offshore financial scenarios to open up broader space for cross-border RMB investment and financing.
**Strengthening Policies for Attracting Inbound and Supporting Outbound Investment** Question: As an international financial center, what advantages can Shanghai strengthen in attracting foreign capital, including the establishment of financial institutions and capital inflows? What further institutional and policy support can be expected?
Jin Pengui: The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee proposed "accelerating the building of a financial powerhouse" and "accelerating the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center." As an international financial center, Shanghai possesses numerous advantages such as the agglomeration of financial institutions, a rich variety of financial products, a high degree of internationalization in financial services, standardized financial regulation, strong financial policy supply, efficient and sound financial infrastructure, strong financial innovation capability, and a deep pool of financial talent, which naturally attract foreign institutions.
In the process of accelerating the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center, we will continue to consolidate these advantages, constantly improve Shanghai's business environment for foreign capital, and reflect Shanghai's characteristics in policies.
First, further expanding the pilot enterprises for upgrading FT account functions, allowing more eligible foreign-funded enterprises to enjoy a high degree of freedom and convenience in cross-border capital flows. Second, piloting treasury center management business to enhance the fund management efficiency of global or regional treasury centers for foreign-funded multinational corporations. Third, advancing the construction of offshore economic (financial) functional areas to provide foreign entities with richer, more efficient, and distinctive offshore financial services. Fourth, continuously promoting reform and opening-up in the foreign exchange sector, promoting and upgrading the policy for multinational companies' domestic and foreign currency capital pools, advancing foreign direct investment reform, simplifying foreign exchange registration procedures, facilitating the payment and use of foreign investment funds, promoting the facilitation of cross-border financing, upgrading and expanding the scope of green external debt policies, supporting domestic enterprises in overseas listing for direct financing, and cooperating with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to research and optimize cross-border capital policies for Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII), and exploring ways to broaden the investment fields and methods for Qualified Foreign Limited Partners (QFLP).
Question: Against the backdrop of persistent global trade protectionism, Chinese enterprises "going global" face multiple challenges including exchange rates, compliance, and geopolitics. How can financial support for stabilizing foreign trade be increased, and the quality and efficiency of cross-border financial services be improved?
Jin Pengui: First, improving the convenience of traditional trade foreign exchange receipts and payments. Using the facilitation of foreign exchange receipts and payments for high-quality enterprises in current account management as an entry point, and continuously optimizing and upgrading the policy, promoting "reducing documents and simplifying processes" in current account foreign exchange management, supporting more trustworthy and compliant high-quality enterprises to achieve "second-application, minute-processing" for cross-border fund settlement. Supporting eligible banks to actively participate in the pilot, including more trustworthy and compliant high-quality enterprises in the pilot scope, effectively helping enterprises reduce settlement costs and improve fund utilization efficiency.
Second, supporting the healthy and innovative development of new service trade formats. In recent years, new foreign trade formats represented by cross-border e-commerce have flourished, becoming important growth points and new vitality for foreign trade import and export. However, they also face pain points such as numerous documents for review and difficulties in authenticity verification. Foreign exchange authorities, adhering to the principle of "encouraging innovation and inclusive prudence," continuously explore and improve the regulatory system for new trade formats and models, promoting facilitation from both the review of traditional documents and electronic transaction information, opening new paths for SMEs behind platform enterprises to enjoy the convenience of trade foreign exchange receipt and payment settlement.
Third, solving the problem of difficulties in exchanging "minor currencies." Economic and trade exchanges between China and Belt and Road partner countries continue to deepen, and the "circle of friends" in foreign trade keeps expanding. Objective problems exist, such as difficulty in repayment and inefficient settlement channels due to foreign exchange controls and shortages in some trading partner countries. Encouraging banks to actively meet the diversified currency settlement needs of enterprises, continuously improving the cross-border settlement network for "minor currencies," reducing the settlement costs for "minor currencies," and providing solid and efficient financial infrastructure services for enterprises to explore markets and integrate into the global economy.
Fourth, innovatively providing comprehensive financial services tailored to enterprises. With the rapid changes in the international economic and trade environment, foreign trade enterprises face diverse challenges. Beyond common issues like fund utilization efficiency, authenticity verification, and exchange difficulties, there may be personalized demands such as new types of trade financing needs. Banks should adhere to the orientation of serving the real economy, tailor measures to individual enterprises, and innovatively develop targeted financial products to meet their personalized business demands.
Question: How to balance the facilitation of investment and financing with the risk prevention and control of cross-border capital flows?
Jin Pengui: It is essential to adhere to the coordinated promotion of financial opening and security, balance the relationship between facilitation and risk prevention and control, and continuously enhance financial regulatory capabilities compatible with the requirements of high-standard financial opening.
First, orderly promoting financial reforms such as the facilitation of cross-border investment, financing, and trade. Addressing the urgent needs of the real economy, promoting various reforms on the premise of controllable risks, promoting one item upon its maturity, ensuring that facilitation measures match risk prevention and control capabilities.
Second, strengthening the monitoring of cross-border capital flows to achieve early detection and disposal of risks. Establishing and improving monitoring, early warning, and response mechanisms for cross-border capital flows, strengthening situational monitoring and analysis, and enhancing macro-prudential management and expectation guidance for cross-border capital flows. Severely cracking down on illegal activities in the economy and finance, improving the ability to identify and combat new types of financial crimes, and safeguarding national economic and financial security. In the foreign exchange sector, promoting a shift in regulatory approach towards entity-based supervision, using the reform of bank foreign exchange business practices as a lever to push banks to establish sound foreign exchange risk transaction monitoring systems.
Third, strengthening technology empowerment. Leveraging big data to achieve a transition from traditional "human defense" to "human defense + technical defense." Optimizing the construction of the cross-border RMB receipt and payment information system, achieving multi-dimensional interconnection with customs and tax systems, providing important data support and system guarantees for risk prevention and control. Conducting full-process tracking and data analysis of fund flows, accurately identifying the facilitation needs of compliant entities, precisely targeting transaction subjects involved in illegal activities, implementing穿透式 supervision, and improving the quality and efficiency of risk prevention and control.
**Digital Yuan International Operation Center Has Launched Three Major Platforms** Question: The Digital Yuan International Operation Center has been established in Shanghai. What impact will this have on the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center?
Jin Pengui: On September 24 last year, the Digital Yuan International Operation Center was officially established in Shanghai, injecting new momentum into the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center. Currently, the Center has launched three major business platforms: The Digital Yuan Cross-border Digital Payment Platform explores using the central bank digital currency to address pain points in traditional cross-border payments, promoting the formation of a new cross-border payment ecosystem characterized as "lossless, interoperable, and compliant." The Digital Yuan Blockchain Service Platform provides standardized cross-chain transaction information relay and on-chain digital yuan payment services for various scenarios and industry-specific blockchains. The Digital Asset Platform can support the issuance, registration, custody, and trading of compliant digital assets on the chain, enabling the value circulation of compliant digital assets to be completed on the same platform.
The People's Bank of China Shanghai Headquarter will also actively cooperate with the Digital Yuan International Operation Center in carrying out its various businesses.
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