(Yicai Global) July 16 -- Under a new policy guideline issued by China’s government, Shanghai’s Pudong New Area will promote the development of the local financial industry through multiple pioneer projects, according to Zhang Hong, director of Pudong's financial work bureau.

The national government yesterday issued a guideline to support opening-up of Pudong New Area. The area will expand openness from the factor level to the system level, and take the lead in establishing a new system for an open economy that is compatible with prevailing international rules, according to the guideline.

To achieve these goals, Pudong New Area will focus on advancing several pioneer projects in the financial sector, including the construction of a Global Institutional Investor Cluster, or GIIC, a Financial Data Port, and a Yangtze River Delta Capital Market Service Base, as well as building a financial leasing system, Zhang told Yicai Global today.

The GIIC plan will work with the factor market to further increase the number of international trading varieties, thereby attracting more world-renowned institutional investors to Pudong and building the area into an important hub for global financial resource allocation, she added.

Pudong will also develop Zhangjiang Bank Card Industrial Park into an international financial data port, Zhang said. At present, the park has gathered all the nation's bank card clearing data, yuan payment clearing data, yuan cross-border payment data, personal and corporate credit data, and financial derivatives trading data. The next step will be to attract more leading enterprises and cultivate startup businesses by issuing support policies.

The Yangtze River Delta Capital Market Service Base was jointly set up by Pudong New Area and the Shanghai Stock Exchange in November 2018. The main purpose is to help firms in the delta region float on the city’s Nasdaq-style Star Market. Up to now, 135 of Star Market-listed firms are from the delta region. The base is upgrading its service platform to support high-tech companies in going public, Zhang said.

Pudong will also build a financial leasing system, under which state-owned enterprises and shareholders with an industrial background will be able to participate in the setup of financial leasers, boost the industry status of financial leasing at home and abroad, and promote an increase in asset scale, Zhang said.

Editor: Tom Litting