BEIJING – People’s Bank of China (PBOC) researchers are watching the UK’s impending exit from the European Union to see what kind of arrangements are put into place to allow regions with separate economic and regulatory policies to have an integrated financial market.
The future of the UK as a European financial services hub after Brexit is of interest as China seeks to develop a cross-border economic union of Hong Kong, Macau, and cities in Guangdong province, according to Xing Yujing, the head of the PBOC Shenzhen Central sub-branch.
The Greater Bay Area (GBA) is a conurbation of 70 million people and is intended by the central government in Beijing to become a high-tech megalopolis rivaling California’s Silicon Valley. A blueprint for that goal was released last month, though it said little about how to enable business and financial flows across such a complex region.
The GBA vision “faces great challenges in addressing the enormous differences among the three customs systems, three currencies and three types of financial system,” – realizing the vision requires the smooth flow of goods, services, people and capital, Xing said on Wednesday.
The UK’s financial role in Europe was built on being part of the same jurisdiction – the European Union. How that sector survives once the UK leaves the EU is relevant for the central government’s thinking about the GBA, according to Xing, given that Beijing wants Hong Kong’s role as a financial hub to continue within the new structure.
This undated file photo shows the Zhuhai Hengqin International Financial Center under construction in the Hengqin New Area near Macau. An international sci-tech and innovation center will be built between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and another one between Macau and Zhuhai, He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at a press conference in Beijing this week. – Xinhua
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