Financial institutions in the sectors of banking, securities and insurance need to build close cooperation with one another to confront the international competition generated by China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), a Chinese financial specialist said on April 17 in Beijing.

Ba Shusong, director of the Development and Strategy Committee of the Securities Association of China, said, at a forum, that Chinese financial institutions will see increasingly fierce business competition as more and more foreign financial institutions enter the Chinese market as they have been since China was admitted to the WTO in 2001.

He said that Chinese financial institutions in different sectors could expand their cooperation through business innovation and through the sharing of resources since a valid legal basis has been established for inter-sector cooperation.

According to China's relevant laws, commercial banks are allowed to engage in all aspects of the securities brokerage business, securities investment, funds management and financial consulting. Chinese insurance companies are permitted to invest their funds in the stock market and to participate in the commercial management of securities companies.

Ba noted that this cooperation would greatly promote the operational efficiency of the institutions.