On July 17, 2020, China Finance 40 Forum (CF40) held its twelfth Annual Conference with the theme "Making New Advances amid Changes". More than 300 experts attended the online conference including CF40, SFI and NFI advisers and members, representatives of member institutions, as well as representatives of think tanks from Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and Tianjin.
Chen Yuan, Chairman of CF40 Executive Council and Vice Chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), delivered the opening remarks of the conference. “ The COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the world and left profound impacts on the world politics, economy and finance,” he said. “Our discussion today will be of great significance.”
At the general assembly that followed, participants had in-depth discussion on the thematic topic "Making New Advances amid Changes". A number of leading experts and senior officials delivered keynote speeches, including Zhou Xiaochuan, President of China Society for Finance and Banking and former Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Xie Ping, Vice Chairman of CF40 Executive Council, Liao Min, CF40 Academic Committee member and Vice Minister of Finance, Yin Yong, CF40 member and Vice Mayor of Beijing, and Chen Wenhui, CF40 Adviser and Vice Chairman of National Council for Social Security Fund.
In his speech, Zhou Xiaochuan discussed seven aspects of how to cope with the challenges brought by Covid-19. First, virus control is of utmost importance, and development of the pandemic dictates the types of economic policies to be undertaken. Second, as far as fiscal and monetary policies are concerned, the current focus is mostly on short-term effects of the policies. However, medium-term effect of the policies should also be considered. Third, in the post-epidemic era, the behavior and demand patterns of the household and corporate sector may undergo major changes, and require careful study. Fourth, the epidemic will usher in unexpected structural change. People’s life style will become more digitalized and the ESG concept (Environment, Social and Governance) will become more popular which could be reflected in market behavior and decisions. On the macro level, increasing demand will not simply mean restoring demand to its pre-pandemic level. New growth points and new demand should be explored in the field of ESG and green development. Fifth, China should promote further opening-up and continue to support globalization and multilateralism with an open attitude. Sixth, problems in the real economy could bring about financial instability. China should guard against potential financial risks caused by economic fallout of covid-19. Seventh, it is necessary to further improve financial infrastructures including those for payments, expand the scale and increase the efficiency, so as to support new growth models.
Following Zhou, Chen Wenhui, CF40 Advisor and Vice Chairman of National Council for Social Security Fund of China, shared his thoughts on digital economy. "Data is becoming a major factor of production, and the digital economy is the major symbol of the fourth industrial revolution." He pointed out that digital economy harbors a great deal of investment opportunities which China needs to grasp in the post-epidemic era. The social security fund has been actively engaged in this field and invested in platform-based enterprises and related technologies which are at the core of digital economy. Chen also urged regulators to upgrade supervision and adopt approaches that tailor to the characteristics of this sector.
Two parallel sessions ran in the afternoon.
At the first session themed "Prospects of Economic Recovery", Gao Shanwen, CF40 Academic Committee member and Chief Economist of Essence Securities talked about diverged economic developments in the post-pandemic world. Then Peng Wensheng, CF40 member and Chief Economist of China International Capital Corporation discussed the features of economic recovery and policy responses. After that, CF40 non-resident senior fellow Zhang Bin released Q2 Macroeconomic Policy Report which analyzed real interest rate changes around the world and the effect of monetary and fiscal policy coordination. Liu Shijin, CF40 Advisor and Deputy Director of CPPCC Economic Affairs Committee, Zou Jiayi, CF40 Advisor and Vice Minister of Finance, and Huang Yiping, Chairman of CF40 Academic Committee commented on the presentations. Zhang Xiaohui, CF40 Non-resident Senior Fellow and Dean of Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance moderated the session.
The parallel session focused discussions on "Financial Opening, Financial Risks and Asset Allocation". Liu Jun, CF40 member and President of the Bank of Communications, Sun Tianqi, CF40 Guest Member and Director-General of PBC's Financial Stability Bureau, and Duan Guosheng, CF40 Council member and Executive Vice President of Taikang Insurance Group delivered keynote speeches on the topical issues, which were followed by comments from Xiao Gang, CF40 Non-resident Senior Fellow, Lu Lei, CF40 member and Deputy Commissioner of State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and Zhu Jun, Director-General of PBC's International Department. The session was moderated by Zhang Xiaopu, CF40 member and Deputy Director-General of Bureau I at the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission.
At the conference, two awards were also given out. CF40 Outstanding Research Project of 2019 went to Establishing a stable long-term China-US economic relationship led by head of CF40 Research Department Xu Qiyuan. "Roadmap of China's Financial Reform" was selected CF40 Book of the Year.
