On the afternoon of October 20, Yin Yong, Mayor of Beijing, held separate meetings with Mark Carney, Chair of Brookfield Asset Management and Former Governor of the Bank of England, and Philipp Hildebrand, Vice Chairman of BlackRock and Former Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank. Both guests came to Beijing for the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2024. 

Yin Yong stated that China remains committed to its fundamental national policy of opening up to the outside world and will continue to promote reform through opening up. China will not shut its door to the outside world, but only open it wider. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee has drawn a new blueprint for China’s reform and opening-up, outlining a series of tasks to deepen structural reform in the financial sector and expand high-level opening-up. This will create more opportunities for China to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve common development with countries around the world. As the capital, Beijing is home to central financial decision-making and regulatory authorities, as well as numerous key national financial infrastructure platforms, financial industry associations, and headquarters of major financial institutions. In recent years, leveraging the “two zones” initiative, Beijing has steadily promoted high-standard opening up with an emphasis on institutional opening up and the high-quality development of the financial sector. Yin encouraged Brookfield Asset Management and BlackRock to seize opportunities, tap into their strengths, and increase their investment and business presence in Beijing. He invited both companies to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and share the dividends of Beijing’s high-quality development and high-standard opening-up. Beijing will deepen reforms in the financial sector and strive to foster a market-oriented, law-based, and accessible business climate in keeping with international standards, aiming to support all types of enterprises in the city to achieve greater success through enhanced services.

Both foreign guests expressed strong confidence in the development prospects and growth potential of investing in China, stating that the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum serves as an important platform for building consensus on cooperation among all parties, and conveys confidence in collaborative development. Carney highlighted Brookfield Asset Management’s keen interest in seizing development opportunities in China, further expanding its business in Beijing, and deepening cooperation with relevant partners in areas such as green finance, fund management, and infrastructure investment. Hildebrand emphasized BlackRock’s commitment to further exploring the Chinese market by maintaining close communication with Beijing, expanding its operations in the city, and advancing exchanges and cooperation at deeper levels, so as to achieve win-win results.

Zeng Jin, Secretary-General of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, attended the meetings.

(Written by Yang Qi)