Financial Street Forum's annual conference opens

The Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2026 opened on Monday in Beijing, bringing together more than 400 distinguished guests from around the world.

The theme of this year's conference is "Building an Open Collaborative and Inclusive Ecosystem for Global Financial Development".

When formulating the theme, the main consideration was that changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the globe; the world economy and global financial operations are confronted with challenges, Zeng Linfeng, executive secretary-general of the secretariat of the annual conference's organizing committee and acting head of Beijing's Xicheng district, said at a news conference prior to the forum.

"There is an urgent need to build consensus through openness, overcome difficulties via cooperation, and seek common ground while embracing differences with inclusiveness," Zeng said.

"This year's annual conference calls for more efforts to better coordinate financial development and security, expand development space through opening-up, step up systemic resilience through cooperation, and deliver mutual benefits and win-win outcomes through an inclusive approach," he added.

During the four-day event, a main forum, several parallel forums as well as three conferences on fintech, insurance and investment are set to take place.

The main forum includes opening and closing ceremonies as well as five thematic activities hosted by the People's Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Xinhua News Agency and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, respectively.

Of them, the PBC's activity, held on Tuesday, will dive into economic governance, financial innovation and the role of central banks amid the evolution of artificial intelligence technology.

Leaders of the world's top financial firms such as Standard Chartered and DWS Group will attend the activity of SAFE on Thursday, offering their perspectives on cross-border financial development and cooperation under the new global landscape.

These activities will also discuss topics such as long-term investment opportunities in China's capital market under two-way opening-up and healthy interactions between the financial market and the real economy.

Adhering to the philosophy of opening-up, parallel forums have invited government officials from home and abroad, along with experts, scholars and representatives of international financial institutions. They will share their insights into two major themes: high-level opening-up of the finance sector and financial support for high-quality economic development, aiming to advance international financial cooperation and create a more open, inclusive and resilient financial environment that serves the real economy.

The fintech conference features 13 sessions revolving around AI, blockchain, digital intelligent finance and many other hot topics.

The investment conference includes a series of financing matchmaking events and industrial roadshows to foster cooperation, while the research report on high-quality development of the insurance industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) will be released at the insurance conference.

Zeng listed some highlights of this year's annual conference. One is that national financial regulatory authorities will issue a slew of policies on financial reform and development.

It demonstrates the forum's role as a key national platform for publicizing and releasing policies, Zeng said.

He added that the conference has made progress in internationalization this year. It has set up five subvenues in Hong Kong, London, Paris, Toronto and Nairobi, marking the first time the event has set up a venue in an African country.

The conference also provides several high-level international dialogue platforms including the Global Systemically Important Financial Institutions Meeting, the Beijing-Hong Kong Financial Cooperation Forum, and the Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Forum.

The G-SIFIs Meeting has been held for seven consecutive years. It is the third time that representatives from 29 G-SIFIs have participated in the event, contributing to global financial governance and reform.

Since its launch in 2012, the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum has held 15 editions, developing from a platform for industry exchange and dialogue to a national-level, international professional forum, Zeng said.

In past years, it has served as a "weather vane for China's financial reform and development", gathering officials from national financial regulatory departments to interpret the latest policies and release market signals, he said.

Since 2020, about 400 policies, industry standards and contracts have been released or signed during the event. Also, it has advanced the establishment of more than 10 financial institutions and facilities.