Lin-gang celebrates anniversary with action plan

As Lin-gang Special Area is set to celebrate its three-year anniversary on Saturday, an action plan was released on Monday to accelerate the development of the emerging financial industry in the area to breed more innovation and better facilitate the development of the real economy.

Made up of 50 detailed policies, the action plan aims to nurture innovations in eight major areas including technology, fintech, new business models, shipping finance, cross-border finance, offshore finance, green finance and supply chain finance.

According to Yuan Guohua, deputy-secretary of the Party working committee of Lin-gang, the area should see its role as an emerging financial center shaped by 2025, featuring smart finance, an open environment, integrated development of companies and industries and better governance in general.

The added value made by financial institutions in the area should increase by over 25 percent every year by 2025, Yuan said.

Leading financial service providers including HSBC, United Overseas Bank (China), Haitong Securities and Guotai Junan Securities have signed agreements with the Lin-gang administrative committee on Monday to further expand their business in the area.

HSBC China's president and CEO Mark Wang defined Lin-gang as a "hub linking offshore and onshore markets", which is of great importance to international banks of their kind. On the one hand, HSBC can share with clients from all over the world Lin-gang's favorable policies, open environment and talent recruitment plans. On the other, the bank can also help outbound Chinese companies to tap into overseas markets by starting from Lin-gang.

"We can help foreign companies, capital and talents settle down in Lin-gang," he said.

UOB (China) will see its Lin-gang branch put into use in early September. According to the banks' China CEO Peter Foo, Lin-gang, which is known for its sound investment and financing environment, will help the proliferation of renminbi in overseas markets.

Lin-gang Special Area, part of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, was officially launched on Aug 20, 2019.