Chengdu stakes claim to be regional finance hub

Sichuan capital boasts geographical advantage, great infrastructure conditions for rail, road, water and air transport

Since time immemorial, Chengdu, the birthplace of the world's earliest paper money, has enjoyed a strong position in China's financial history.

In 1993, the State Council planned to make Chengdu the financial center of Southwest China and proposed to give full play to its role as a technological, trade and finance center, and a hub of transportation and telecommunications.

In 2008, Chengdu set the goal of becoming the key financial center in the west and setting up the nation's top financial back-office service center, creating a regional hub of financial institutions and building a regional financial market center.

In 2009, the Chengdu municipal government defined the three top priorities to achieve the goal: first, to become the strongest city in western China where the largest number of financial institutions are headquartered; second, to build the western region's financial innovation and market transaction center; and third, to build a western China center for high-end financial back-office and financial services outsourcing.

According to statistics released in 2015, Chengdu has more than 220 financial institutions including banks, insurance companies, securities, and more than 500 emerging financial institutions such as small-loan companies, finance guarantee companies and investments funds; about 20 large-scale financial back-office services; more than 50 accounting firms (the Big Four have all established regional headquarters in Chengdu); more than 300 law firms; and more than 100 asset evaluation agencies. All these agencies and institutions constitute a complete set of powerful support systems for the financial industry.

In 2014, the added value of Chengdu's financial industry was 107.18 billion yuan ($16.29 billion; 14.96 billion euros), accounting for 20.9 percent of the total added value of its service industry and 10.7 percent of its GDP. Major financial institutions at home and abroad have all established regional headquarters in Chengdu, with their line of business expanding in central and western China.

In 2015, as a leader in the inland open economy and Southwest China's key economic, educational, cultural and financial center, Chengdu was specially mentioned in China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Located at the strategic intersection of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Chengdu boasts a superb geographical advantage, great infrastructure conditions for rail, road, water and air transport, thus becoming an international hub that connects the countries along the Road and Belt and China's central and western regions.

The author is a researcher at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily European Weekly 01/29/2016 page8)