Chinese regulators try to assure sceptical foreign financiers
Channel NewsAsia Best News Website or Mobile Service
WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards Worldwide
Best News Website or Mobile Service
Digital Media Awards Worldwide
SHANGHAI/BEIJING : China is open for investment, the country's top financial regulators told foreign financiers at a high-profile forum in Shanghai on Thursday, as concerns mount among foreign firms that they may no longer be welcome.
The world's second-largest economy, keen for foreign investment to support its reopening after three years of COVID-19 restrictions, has played host in recent months to high-profile overseas CEOs including Goldman Sachs Group's David Solomon and Tesla's Elon Musk.
But scepticism runs deep, as Sino-U.S. tensions intensify around flashpoints from Ukraine and the South China Sea to U.S. semiconductor export curbs and data security, while President Xi Jinping's focus on national security brought a recent crackdown on foreign consultancies and due diligence firms.
"We warmly welcome foreign-funded institutions with sound operations and excellent qualifications to expand their business in China," Li Yunze, head of China's National Financial Regulatory Administration, said in his first public remarks since his appointment at the newly established agency.
