The fifth China Listed Company Leaders Summit 2016, sponsored by the National Business Daily newspaper, was held in Chengdu from November 24-26, 2016. Over six hundred professionals in economics and finance, including top economists, listed companies’ leaders, representatives of public and private fund offering institutions, were present at the summit, probing China’s economy and capital markets. A new Koubei (Public Praise) List was also announced at the summit.
How did Chengdu, a city in the far west of China, manage to attract so many eminent people, and have the Koubei List be revealed here?
New Start of the National Strategy
Asked about why the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting was held in Chengdu, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao explained it thus:
“As a major city in western China, Chengdu is playing an increasingly eminent and strategic role in the China Western Development. Meanwhile, it is the key hub and makes great contributions to the ‘Yangtze River Economic Zone’ and ‘One Belt One Road’ National Strategies.”
A Communist Party meeting in Chengdu in September formally initiated the process of making Chengdu into a “National Center” city. Tang Liangzhi, Municipal Party Secretary of Chengdu told the meeting that this was a mission which Chengdu should shoulder, as well as a key step for the city’s future development.
National strategies are being effectively carried out in Chengdu one by one, bringing continuous great opportunities to the city. In the first half of 2016, Chengdu signed or started 162 major projects using both domestic and foreign investment, with the amounts topping usage in any other city in the west of the country.
New Energy in the Capital Market
Currently, Chengdu is speeding up development aimed at making it the western financial center of China, and actively enhancing its five core competences – “capital markets, wealth management, settlement center, venture finance and new-type finance”, to holistically improve its key strategic functions. It is estimated that in 2020, the added value of Chengdu’s financial industry will surpass 200 billion yuan.
Obvious to all, the finance institutions in Chengdu now rank first both in type and quantity throughout the western region of China.
As of July last year, Chengdu was playing host to more than 1,800 different types of quasi- and standard financing institutions, including 74 banking institutions, 83 insurance companies, 248 securities and futures institutions, 120 small loan companies, 127 financing guarantee companies, 635 registered private equity fund management companies, 45 third party payment platforms and 174 institutions of finance lease and pawn business, indicating a favorable agglomeration development tendency. Chengdu’s identity as the regional financial centre has gradually taken shape.
A tide of new businesses and innovation is also sweeping the city. In the first three quarters of 2016, there were 238,000 new entities registered, a 31% increase over the same period the previous year. Up to the end of September, there were 66 A-share listed companies and 187 “New Three Board” listed companies, both ranking first in the western region of the country. The securitization ratio of Chengdu’s economy is 84.7%, ranking among the top of the western region.
New Hope in the Global Vision
“In the age of economic globalization, opening up is the source of a city’s dynamic development,” said Tang Liangzhi, Chengdu Municipal Party Secretary.
According to public reports, 125 enterprises have expanded beyond Chengdu, with an aggregate investment of 2.7 billion dollars. In particular, since the opening of the Chengdu-Lodz freight rail link three years ago, big brands such as Lenovo and Dell have brought to Chengdu production capacity that was originally in Europe. The city is witnessing a positive momentum for international cooperation and global trade.
The sixtheenth Western China International Fair held in Chengdu recently attracted over 60,000 guests and 9,027 enterprises from 91 countries and regions.
With both foreign and domestic investment flooding into Chengdu, the city has gradually become the first choice in the western region to gather global capital. At present, 278 of the world’s top 500 enterprises have set up in Chengdu. Financial powerhouses such as Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered and JP Morgan Chase have all began to expand and Chengdu is gradually revealing its identity as a new international metropolis, boldly stepping out onto the global economic stage.
