On the afternoon of March 23, Yin Yong, Mayor of Beijing, met with Christian Mumenthaler, CEO of Swiss Re Group; Roy Gori, President and CEO of Manulife; and Suzan Kereere, President of Global Markets at PayPal, respectively.
Yin emphasized China’s vast market and its tremendous appeal. As the capital city, Beijing is home to many national financial decision-making and management authorities, important financial infrastructure platforms, and headquarters for financial industry associations and institutions. It is also the first in the country to develop and open up its insurance and payment markets, providing unique development advantages and market opportunities. Currently, based on its strategic positioning as the capital, Beijing aims to achieve growth with reduced input and pursue high-quality development through technological innovation. Leveraging the “two zones” initiative, we will steadily promote high-standard opening-up with a focus on institutional opening up and serve China’s financial management. This includes efforts to reform and open up the financial sector at a faster pace and support high-quality development in fields such as insurance, asset management, and payments. These efforts will provide global financial enterprises and institutions with vast opportunities for development and cooperation.
Yin expressed that Swiss Re Group, Manulife, and PayPal are leading players in reinsurance, financial services, and digital mobile payments, respectively. He encouraged them to leverage their expertise and take advantage of Beijing’s market and policy advantages to further expand their investments and businesses in the city. It is also crucial to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as asset management, insurance, high-tech finance, green finance, and cross-border payments to promote the development of the real economy and share the opportunities presented by Beijing’s high-quality development and high-level opening up. Going forward, Beijing will continue to improve its “service package” and “service steward” systems and create a market-oriented, law-based, and accessible business climate in keeping with international standards, so as to provide high-quality services to various financial enterprises and institutions that aspire to invest and start businesses in the city.
The foreign representatives highly praised Beijing’s business environment and services provided to enterprises, noting that the Chinese economy is a crucial driver for global economic growth and presents significant development opportunities. They expressed their willingness to explore the Chinese market and expand their investments and businesses in Beijing. They are also keen to engage further in the city’s efforts to open up the financial sector, and collaborate with local financial institutions and enterprises in areas such as insurance, asset management, pension finance, high-tech finance, green finance, and digital payments, thereby facilitating the high-quality development of Beijing’s financial industry.
Mu Peng, Secretary General of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, attended the meetings.
