The Opening Ceremony of the 3^rd Shizimen Financial Week held in Hengqin, Zhuhai

On the morning of November 17^th, the 3^rd Shizimen Financial Week officially kicked off in Hengqin, Zhuhai. Financial experts and scholars gathered in the southern coastal city to discuss measures and provide suggestions for Hengqin-Macau cooperation to upgrade to a higher level through innovations in institutions and financial services. The opening ceremony of the event was presided over by Jing NIU, Secretary of the Party Committtee of Hengqin New Area and that of Zhuhai Free Trade Zone. Yonghang GUO, Secretary of Zhuhai Municipal Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of Zhuhai Municipal People’s Congress, delivered a speech. Baige ZHAO, Chair of Advisory Committee of RDI, Liqun JIN, President of AIIB, Xin LU, former Vice Minister of Education of the P.R.C., Mingwei ZHOU, former President of CIPG, Chan Sau San, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Monetary Authority of Macau, Hong ZHU, Deputy Director of Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Macau S.A.R. attended the opening ceremony.

Yonghang GUO attending the opening ceremony and delivering a speech

Yonghang GUO, Secretary of Zhuhai Municipal Party Committee and Director of the Standing Committee of Zhuhai Municipal People’s Congress, noted that over the past 40 years since its establishment, Zhuhai Special Economic Zone has always attached great importance and given full play to the vital role of finance as the core of modern economy. The financial industry has developed into a pillar for Zhuhai’s economic and social development and prosperity. At the moment, Zhuhai is thoroughly implementing the instruction of General Secretary Xi Jinping to “the Guangdong-Macau Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Zhuhai”, step up financial reform and innovation, deepen Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau financial cooperation and speed up the development of Guangdong-Macau Cross-Border Financial Cooperation Demonstration Zone (Zhuhai), so as to create better conditions, services and environment for the Zhuhai’s financial development. It is hoped that the participants would actively contribute their suggestions for Hengqin-Macau financial cooperation, get deeply involved in the new round of reform and development in Zhuhai, and jointly provide more effective financial services and guarantee for constructing Macau and Zhuhai strategic points of GBA and accelerating the development of the Guangdong-Macau Intensive Cooperation Zone.

Baige ZHAO, Chair of Advisory Committee of RDI, stated that in recent years, with the strong and direct support and facilitation by national policies, Hengqin and Macau had made concerted efforts on building a pilot demonstration zone of Hong Kong-Hengqin-Macau cooperation. Hengqin has made full use of its role as a new carrier for advancing the appropriate and diversified development of Macau’s industries. Hengqin has effectively boosted the in-depth collaboration between overseas capital and mainland projects, cementing and upgrading the cooperation between Guangdong and Macau through introducing a series of measures and policies, setting up industry guidance funds, and building facilitating platforms for investment and financing. Following the development of Hengqin New Area, its financial industry started from scratch and quickly gathered strength. Starting from a branch of Rural Credit Cooperative, Hengqin’s financial industry has rapidly established a multi-level financial service organization system integrating over 20 kinds of financial enterprises, traditional and emerging financial forms.

Baige ZHAO delivering a speech entitled “Finance Enabling Enterprises for 

High-quality Development of Hengqin and Macau’s Financial Industries”

Baige ZHAO said that the sudden COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 has exacerbated the evolution of the world economic and political landscape. Against the new situation and development at home and abroad, the importance of the 3rd Shizimen Financial Week for furthering Hengqin-Macau cooperation is self-evident. The Shizimen Finance Week was first launched in 2018 and RDI participated in the planning and organization of this brand activity, which has now become a major brand platform for exchanges in the financial industry, aiming at advancing the coordinated development of financial innovation and industries in Hengqin and Macau. Under the attention and guidance of the Zhuhai Municipal People’s government and Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, the 3rd Shizimen Finance Week was organized on the theme of “In-depth Cooperation, Diversified Empowerment: Hengqin-Macau Finance and Entrepreneurs Dialogues”. In light of Hengqin’s development orientation, the participants focused their discussions on the financial cooperation between Hengqin and Macau, the development of  finance with Hengqin’s characteristic, emerging technologies enabling Hengqin’s financial development, the deepening of supply-side structural reform in the financial sector, and opening-up of the financial industry. They explored new measures to facilitate the convenient flow of economic factors between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, new breakthroughs and paths for “Finance +” empowering enterprises, and efforts to coordinate and synergize “Government + Finance + Enterprise” in an all-round and effective manner. Such moves are aimed to build Hengqin into a new space for promoting appropriately diversified economic development pf Macau, a demonstration zone for enriching the “One Country, Two Systems”, an important growth pole for high-quality development of GBA, and a pilot zone for deepening reform and expanding opening-up.

Xin LU delivering a keynote report entitled “Fin-tech Facilitating High-quality Development”

Xin LU, former Vice Minister of Education of the P.R.C. and Member of Advisory Committee of RDI, indicated that financial innovation should concentrate on production, distribution, circulation and consumption, with priority on three aspects: 1) attentions should be paid on three stages of high-quality development. In order to achieve high-quality development with the supply matching the demand, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau and Hengqin-Macau need to strengthen the shortcomings in the industrial chain, supply chain, infrastructure and ecology. The new generation of information technology is an essential technical basis and path for supply and demand matching; 2) we should recognize that the essence of financial innovation is to optimize supply. This essence should be upheld in financial innovation, and fin-tech development should seek advantages while avoiding disadvantages as the ultimate goal of financial innovation is to serve the industry; and 3) finance should be leveraged to empower quality economic development. Financial innovation aims to push forward high-quality development and establish a modern production system, a rational distribution system, a modern distribution system and a new consumption system. The development of GBA should stick to the main task of supply-side structural reform, further rely on the domestic market for production, distribution, circulation and consumption, and improve the adaptability of the supply system to domestic demand.Hengqin and Macau should study and figure out systematic solutions based on this positioning.

Liqun JIN delivering a keynote report entitled “Multilateral Financial Cooperation Mechanism in the Context of New Globalization”

Liqun JIN, President of AIIB and Member of Advisory Committee of RDI, pointed out that in-depth Hengqin-Macau cooperation constitutes a vital part of the development of GBA. Zhuhai has attached great importance to Hengqin-Macau cooperation and Hengqin development, and fully implemented the concept of peaceful development and win-win cooperation, which is embodied in three aspects: 1) the establishment of new systems and mechanisms. At present, the international landscape is facing profound changes, and countries around the world are considering the establishment of new global cooperation systems and mechanisms. Zhuhai has made plans to set up a mechanism of extensive consultation, joint contribution and common management between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, to develop Hengqin as a whole, and to grow stronger together with Macau; and 2) the formulation of a new system of rules. To promote the coordination of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, rules must be unified to form synergy. Zhuhai has been striving to optimize the risk management policies of Hengqin, and put forward the concepts of easing measures in practice, proper control at the higher level, split-flow of people and goods, and management by departments, so as to facilitate the cross-border flow of people, logistics, capital and information between Hengqin and Macau in a convenient, rapid and orderly manner. Third, efforts to avoid homogeneous competition with surrounding areas, other special zones and free trade zones. Hengqin-Macau cooperation highly values the development of emerging industries, with the focus on key industries such as high-tech, traditional Chinese medicine, characteristic finance, trade and consumption, cultural tourism and exhibition, etc. to support the key construction of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau.

Professor Jiaming ZHU briefing the conference on Digital Alliance Program

Jiaming ZHU, President of Chinese Institute of Digital Assets and Member of Advisory Committee of RDI, released Digital Alliance Program ((DAP) at the inauguration ceremony. DAP is committed to completing the reform and opening-up in the Hengqin-Macau Intensive Cooperation Zone and ultimately achieving a new historic leap, as it vigorously facilitates the allocation of innovation elements such as science and technology, capital, information and talent while promoting the “Dual Circulation” development pattern through taking Hengqin and Macau as digital economic centers in the Asia-Pacific region, forming a platform with Hengqin-Macau cooperation at its center, and utilizing the digital economic network based on blockchain technology. In addition, DAP will continue to promote globalization and eventually form a sharing and inclusive economic demonstration zone to help build “ a Community with a Share Future for Mankind”. DAP take comprehensiveness, systematicness, openess, vision, feasibility and techniology into consideration. The Intersive Cooperation Zone should build a number of key laboratories, engineering research centers, technological innovation centers, manufacturing innovation centers, quality centers, etc., so as to make the zone a new base with a large number of scientific and technological talents. Furthermore, the regional higher education and vocational education systems should be adjusted for the synchronous development of sci-tech talents, forming a regional talent highland.