Reform calls for freer markets, interest rates

Finance | Jiang Xueqing

China should open up its bond markets and liberalize interest rates if its financial reform is to be a success, said Rodney Ward, chairman of Asia-Pacific global corporate and investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

"The key components of reform are the liberalization of interest rates, liberalization of the bond market and greater access to equity markets by people, which will put competitive pressure on State-owned banks to be much more responsive to clients and much more definitive in their strategy," Ward said on the sidelines of a recent forum on sustained growth and financial reform in China.