Keynote Speech by H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming at the Navigate the New Silk Road Forum: China Stays Committed to Openness, Cooperation and Consultation, and Brings Confidence to the World

Now let me turn to the second question: Despite deepening economic globalisation, development gaps between different countries still exist. What can China do to continue serving as a growth engine for the world while pursuing development at home?

Again, China's answer to this question is clear: We remain committed to win-win cooperation. This commitment will boost the confidence in the inclusive and balanced economic growth in the world.

Take the international financial cooperation for example.

Driven by big data, blockchain and other new technologies, FinTech, inclusive finance and green finance are developing rapidly. This has brought new opportunities and new challenges to the international financial market.

Against this backdrop, financial cooperation between our two countries, one with newly-acquired financial strength and the other with traditional financial power, will create enormous opportunities for investors from both countries and the world as a whole.

First, there is the opportunity for investment.

On April 1st this year, Chinese bonds were included in the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index. I think this is an important success of the ever more open Chinese bond market. It shows China's growing role in the global financial market. It also reflects the confidence of global investors in the Chinese market.

Last month, the tenth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue was successfully held in London. Of the 69 outcomes reached at the EFD, the Shanghai-London Stock Connect is a highlight. Its official launch marks the realisation of real connectivity between China and the UK as the world's second and third largest capital market respectively. It also expands the channel for two-way, cross-border investment and financing between China and the UK.

China and the UK will continue to conduct feasibility studies on the arrangement for connectivity between the bond markets, so as to create more opportunities for investors from both our two countries and the world.

Second, there is the opportunity for green development.

In 2018, China issued over 30 billion dollars of green bond, achieving 33% increase year-on-year. Last week, the UK hosted the third Green Finance Summit. At the summit, Economic Secretary Glen announced the Green Finance Strategy.

In fact, China and the UK have been major partners in green finance. In June 2018, the London Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China issued green bond worth 1.58 billion dollars. This was the largest ever green bond listing on the London Stock Exchange.

China and the UK have also set up the Green Finance Taskforce, launched the Green Finance Centre, and issued the Green Investment Principles for Belt and Road Development.

Our two countries welcome the collaboration between Chinese and UK financial institutions on the issuance of offshore green asset-backed securities in the UK and other markets. Both sides will create investment platforms driven by the private sector to support and invest in UK green technology firms to scale-up in new markets, including China. We will also do more and try to take up the lead in product innovation, standard setting, risk supervision and management in green finance.

Third, there is the opportunity of making the best use of platforms.

The City of London is a leading global financial centre, and an important partner of China in financial services.

First of all, London is the world's largest offshore RMB market. By last February, a total of 113 RMB-denominated bonds had been listed on the London Stock Exchange. The total value is more than 30 billion RMB yuan.

Second, many Chinese banks have made London their home. Last month, I attended the opening ceremony of China CITIC Bank London Branch. It was the eighth Chinese bank to set up a branch in London. This was not only a new milestone in the efforts of Chinese banks to explore the global market, but also a "vote of confidence" for the future of the City of London.

I am confident that going forward, the City of London will continue to serve as an important platform for RMB internationalisation, for sub-national financial cooperation between China and the UK, and for the two countries' cooperation in third markets.