The high-level opening-up of Shanghai should focus on five aspects, the most critical one being a shift from market opening to institutional opening-up. The format of opening-up should change from the previous pipeline-style to all-around opening with new financial elements and allocation of international assets covered. In addition, more support should be provided to international financial institutions to help them develop in China. 

The high level opening-up should be materialized in eight aspects. For example, opening-up must be large in scale to realize integration between domestic and foreign trade, and economies of scale; it has to be high-quality so as to enhance Shanghai and China’s bargaining power and competitiveness; it must establish effective institutions to allow China to lead in international rulemaking and global governance; it needs to adopt innovative approaches to lead the digitalization and greening of trade; it needs to take into account both domestic and international circulation, and strike a balance between development and security.

Shanghai has to accelerate its pace of institutional opening-up in the financial sector and forge globally influential financial systems. It needs to improve its capabilities to engage in international rule-making, and help align the standards and rules of China’s financial sector with the world’s most advanced ones.

The urgent need for Shanghai to shift to institutional opening-up means the following: steadily improving rules, regulations and management; promoting convergence with internationally prevailing rules, and forming an open, transparent and predictable policy and institutional framework. Shanghai should  participate in global financial governance more actively, build platforms for international cooperation and exchange, and promote China’s experience of financial market development globally.

We should pay attention to risks associated with inbound capital in the process of opening-up, especially risk contagion. It is important to improve cross-border risk monitoring mechanisms. Both regulators and market institutions need to attach great importance to the bottom line of preventing systemic risk when dealing with international business. More effective mechanisms are needed to increase the transparency of insurance and reinsurance business, enrich risk management measures with regard to offshore counterparties and strengthen risk monitoring.

Shanghai is already an international center for asset management. To reinforce its position, it should take the following three measures. First, attract more international talents and boost international exchanges. Second, become an international hub for ESG asset management and sustainable financing. Third, pay attention to silver economy and third-pillar pension wealth management products.

China has made progress with regard to inbound investment policies and outbound investment schemes, which is  fully in line with China's direction toward higher-level opening-up. I wish to see further efforts to lower entry thresholds, simplify application processes, increase quotas, and enlarge the range of permissible investments. It is important to establish a vibrant market in pension products, and green finance products and projects. Talent and information is the foundation of the financial industry.

Shanghai and London are two of the world’s most important financial centers and both have a major role to play in the long-term resilience of the international financial system. There are about three challenges facing financial centers the world: fragmentation, volatility and the climate transition, and elaborated how Shanghai and London can be global leaders in providing sustainable, stabilizing solutions to the international financial system.

It is necessary to strengthen capacities for financial risk monitoring, analysis and early warning, so as to balance financial innovation and security, and that of building a sound and effective financial safety net.  It's also essential to establish a forward-looking and operable risk control framework to manage financial risks in an all-round and full-cycle manner.