The Engage China coalition — a group of 12 financial trade groups that includes the American Bankers Association and its international finance subsidiary, BAFT — has welcomed the commitment made by Chinese leadership as part of President Trump’s state visit to Asia to open up its financial markets to greater foreign participation.
Specifically, according to remarks today by Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao, China will relax restrictions on overseas minority investments in Chinese securities, fund management and futures companies and will phase out restrictions on majority control after three years. China will also loosen restrictions on foreign and private equity investments in Chinese banks and asset managers.
Greater access to China’s financial markets — mirroring that of the United States and many other developed markets — has been a long-standing priority for ABA, BAFT and its Engage China partners. “Once fully in place, this will level the playing field among local and foreign financial services firms in China, and deepen China’s integration with global financial markets,” the coalition said in a statement. “We commend U.S. and Chinese leaders for their commitment to addressing this issue, and strengthening the bilateral U.S.- China economic relationship, more broadly.”
