China Finance 40 Forum (CF40) 2017 Annual Conference was held in Beijing on April 8th, 2017. More than 300 members from the government, financial industry and academia attended the conference.
At the internal council meeting in the morning, CF40 Secretary-General Wang Haiming summarized the forum’s accomplishments over the past year, its prospects in year 2017, and the development and progress of CF40 as a professional and independent think tank over the past nine years. Then CF40 members attending the meeting voted for the next Academic Committee and made proposals for the coming year’s research projects. Prof Huang Yiping, Vice Dean of National School of Development at Peking University was elected the next chairman of the Committee. After the election, CF40 Executive Council Chairman Chen Yuan delivered a speech in which he spoke highly of CF40’s work and issued certificates to new members of CF40 Council. Prof Qian Yingyi, the outgoing chairman of the Academic Committee and Dean of School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University conferred 'CF40 Best Books of the Year Award' to CF40 members and research groups.
For nine years, CF40 has dedicated itself to innovation and self-improvement, and evolved into a new type of think tank with its “platform + research institute” model. The CF40 platform serves as a foundation to support two key think tank series: the ‘CF40’ series which includes the CF40 Foundation and CF40 Institute, and the ‘New Finance’ series which includes Shanghai Finance Institute (SFI), Shanghai Pu Shan New Finance Development Foundation, Northern Finance Institute (NFI), and the Institute of Digital Finance at Peking University (IDF). CF40 has attracted more than 300 elite financial professionals from the government, research institutions, and business to actively participate in CF40’s research projects and seminars.
The second session in the morning focused on the steady advancement of China’s financial reform. Two keynote speakers, Yi Gang, CF40 Academic Advisor and Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China; and Huang Yiping, Chairman of CF40 Academic Committee and Vice Dean of National School of Development at Peking University, spoke about RMB internationalization and zombie enterprises, respectively. Xie Ping, CF40 Senior Fellow and Vice Chairman of CF40 Executive Council; Li Dongrong, CF40 Executive Council Member and Chairman of National Internet Finance Association of China; and Hu Xiaolian, CF40 Academic Advisor and Chairwoman of the Export-Import Bank of China commented on their speeches.
Experts at the symposium pointed out that “four pillars”, namely market drive, top level design, the development of offshore RMB market, and supervision, management and services, have supported RMB internationalization. Experts noted that the authorities should be forward-looking and leave space for future reform during the process of RMB internationalization. Attendees also pointed out that zombie companies were the source of many financial and economic risks, and may be the core of China’s next round of economic, financial and social problems.
Two parallel sessions were running in the afternoon, with one focused on the supply-side reform, and the other on RMB exchange rate.
Bai Chong’en, CF40 Academic Committee Member and Executive Associate Dean of the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University chaired the session on the supply-side reform. Gao Shanwen, CF40 Academic Committee Member and Chief Economist at Essence Securities gave a speech on distortions of housing supply. Liu Guoqiang, CF40 Invited Guest and Assistant Governor at People’s Bank of China; and Sun Xiaoxia, CF40 Invited Guest and Director-General of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance made comments on the speeches.
According to experts, supply-side structural reform of the financial sector could be summarized as “improving the quality and increasing efficiency”, which is reducing ineffective and inefficient financial supply, preventing systemic risks and increasing highly efficient and effective financial supply. Measures include “stabilizing the money supply, streamlining the transmission mechanism of monetary policies, curbing the inefficient flow of credit among various types of financial institutions, improving the quality of loans, offering more diversified products and services, controlling risks, improving corporate governance and financial infrastructure.
During the session on RMB exchange rate regime, CF40 Senior Fellow Guan Tao reported his research project The Choice of Exchange Rate Regimes in the Post 8/11 Reform Era, and discussed the directions and possible paths of future foreign exchange reforms. Zhang Xiaohui, CF40 Invited Guest and Assistant Governor of the People’s Bank of China; Huang Yiping, Chairman of CF40 Academic Committee and Vice Dean of National School of Development at Peking University; and Zhu Jun, CF40 Invited Guest, Director-General of the International Department at PBoC, commented on his report. CF40 Secretary-General Wang Haiming chaired the discussion.
