Move to allow majority stakes in insurance and securities and commodities futures businesses comes one year ahead of schedule.
Foreign ownership restrictions on financial firms in China will be lifted one year ahead of schedule, Premier Li Keqiang said at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China on Tuesday.
«The reason we moved ahead the schedule is to declare to the world that in the financial services sector we will not only keep up the pace of opening, we will also accelerate,» Li was quoted by «Bloomberg» (behind paywall) as saying about the move that would allow majority stakes in insurance and securities and commodities futures businesses.
According to Reuters, investment banks such as Morgan Stanley are looking to join HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Nomura and UBS in owning controlling stakes in their onshore securities joint ventures in China.
Financial Sector Reforms
China has embarked on a series of reforms, including opening up capital markets, internationalizing the yuan and improving its technical know-how, to liberalize the country's financial industry, worth $44 trillion according to «Bloomberg.»
Li's announcement follows talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping several days earlierat the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, where the two leaders agreed to restart U.S.-China trade talks.
