Macao business entities and investors stand to gain from new financial opening measures announced by five Chinese departments, including the central bank.
A 30-point guideline, posted on the People’s Bank of China’s website, outlines steps to boost financial sector integration within the Greater Bay Area (GBA), with a focus on the Nansha district in Guangdong.
According to the English-language Guangdong news website GDToday, the measures will allow qualified investors from Macao to legally establish securities and fund companies, as well as acquire stakes in mainland Chinese futures companies. The guidelines also aim to attract diversified investment institutions and construct corresponding platforms.
Cross-border yuan innovation will be enhanced, with banks permitted to settle yuan capital directly for qualified foreign firms. Funds held in yuan accounts by overseas institutions in the district can be deposited as fixed-term or large-denomination certificates of deposit, GDToday reports.
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The guidelines also emphasise institutional openness, supporting Nansha to align with international frameworks such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement. Qualified foreign institutions will be permitted to join financial pilot programmes.
Financial market interconnectivity in the GBA will be advanced, with institutions encouraged to leverage free trade accounts and domestic accounts for overseas entities. Pilot programmes for streamlined cross-border equity investment facilitation will also be supported in Nansha. Specific measures target the development of advanced sectors, including high-end manufacturing, digital industries, and the marine industry.
The 30 measures cover areas such as improving financial services for innovation and entrepreneurship, strengthening financial support in social and livelihood sectors, developing specialised financial services, advancing GBA financial market interconnectivity, conducting cross-border financial innovation and exchanges, and enhancing financial regulatory mechanisms.
These measures, the Xinhua news agency says, are part of China’s broader effort to expand the opening-up of the services industry, with pilot tasks including attracting overseas insurance companies, sovereign funds, pension funds, and other agencies to provide services for green projects.
This article was drafted by AI before being reviewed by an editor
