(Yicai) Jan. 26 -- China’s central bank will continue to support the high-level institutional opening-up of the financial sector in Shanghai's Pudong New Area and strongly support its all-encompassing pilot reforms, the director of the bank’s research bureau said.

The People’s Bank of China will steadily expand the institutional opening-up of the financial sector in the area and strive to create a market-oriented, law-based, and global first-class business environment there, Wang Xin told Yicai today. 

The PBOC will further improve the policy system to facilitate cross-border use of the Chinese yuan, improve the pilot project of the integrated capital pool for domestic and foreign currencies of multinationals, and steadily promote the two-way opening up of financial markets, he added.

Wang’s remarks come five days after the central government released a new five-year plan through 2027 that will give Pudong New Area greater autonomy to push ahead with deep reform and high-level opening-up. It puts forward 23 policies on opening to the outside world, technology innovation, talent, the business environment, and city governance, including a number of capital market-related initiatives.

The PBOC has always attached great importance to Pudong New Area's financial reforms and has strongly supported them, Wang noted. The comprehensive pilot reforms will not only help improve Shanghai’s role in allocating global resources, but also hasten self-reliance in high-tech, Wang added.

The bank will go on increasing facilitation policies and service supply in Pudong New Area, Wang noted. It will support the development of offshore economic and trade activities by firms based in the area and expand the benefits of the pilot policies for foreign exchange management reform in terms of high-level opening-up of cross-border trade in the Lingang area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, located in the Pudong New Area, he said.

The PBOC will also accelerate various measures to promote the construction of the Shanghai Pilot Zone for Financial Reform in the Science and Technology Sector and better serve the construction of the Shanghai International Innovation Center, Wang pointed out.

Editor: Martin Kadiev