(Yicai Global) May 7 -- Thirteen global asset managers are linking arms with Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district with the aim of expanding their business in China and developing the world's best asset management ecosphere.

Lujiazui Financial City inked a memorandum of cooperation with world-leading BNP Paribas Asset Management and 12 others including the Netherlands' Robeco Asset Management and South Korea's Mirae Asset Global Investments.

Today's signing ceremony was held at the office of the China Central Depository & Clearing and follows November's launch of the Global Asset Management Association of Lujiazui.

Lujiazui Financial City, which is located on the east side of the Huangpu river in the city's Pudong district, has become a hub for international asset managers in China. Nine of the world's top 10 companies in the field have opened offices here and 17 of the 19 qualified foreign private equity firms are in Lujiazui. Lujiazui will continue to optimize the business environment, seize the opportunity to further open up the financial market and help Shanghai become a world asset management hub.

More than 100 representatives of financial regulators, banks, law firms, brokerages and industry organizations attended the signing ceremony and discussed opportunities, paths and solutions for foreign investment in the Chinese bond market, as well as future development directions and financial business innovation opportunities.

Attendees included:
- Weng Zuliang, party secretary of Pudong New Area
- Wang Hua, deputy governor of Pudong New Area
- Zhang Yuxiang, director of the Lujiazui Financial City Development Bureau
- Guo Zhiying, deputy director of the development bureau
- Zheng Yang, director of the Shanghai Municipal Financial Services Office
- Zheng Wufu, vice president of the People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office
- Shui Ruqun, chairman of the CCDC
- Bai Weiqun, CCDC supervisor and general manager of the CCDC's Shanghai headquarters