(Yicai) Jan. 24 -- China intends to more closely connect the financial markets of the mainland and those of its two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.

China will enhance bilateral supervisory partnerships with Hong Kong, Li Yunze, director of the National Administration of Financial Regulation, said today at the 17th Asian Financial Forum held in the SAR, according to his speech published on the regulator's website.

The nation will continue to optimize the Wealth Management Connect, support more qualified investors to join, and go on expanding the scope of qualified investment products, Li said. Moreover, the NAFR supports financial institutions to actively take part in programs such as the Stock Connect and Bond Connect, he added.

The mainland's banking and insurance markets will further open up to Hong Kong and Macao, according to Li. The NAFR welcomes mainland branches of banks based in the two SARs to expand their business scope while studying the possibility of them issuing bank cards to local customers. It will also consider lowering the bar for offshore financial institutions to become shareholders of mainland insurers based on the principle of equal treatment, he said.

The NAFR supports Hong Kong to cement its position as an offshore yuan business hub, endorsing banks and insurers backed by Chinese funds to issue yuan-denominated green bonds in Hong Kong to deepen cooperation on green finance, Li said. China-funded insurers are encouraged to issue yuan-based catastrophe bonds, notes designed to rescue insurers after natural disasters, in Hong Kong to promote market development, he added.

The regulator recommends that mainland-funded financial institutions take root in Hong Kong to serve the local market. Banks and insurers should participate in the construction of Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis, a new information technology zone close to Shenzhen, and the Centre for Green and Sustainable Finance, a platform aimed at solving environmental risks through finance. Moreover, it supports banks and insurers to set up their regional headquarters in Hong Kong, Li said.

The NAFR will go on promoting higher-level opening-up between the mainland and the two SARs via the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, a free trade deal, Li said. Hong Kong is being supported to leverage its unique advantages under the One Country, Two Systems principle to continuously improve its role as an international financial hub, he pointed out. 

Editor: Emmi Laine