The Chinese government has unveiled new plans to cement the status of the southern city of Shenzhen as a leading global fintech and finance hub, amidst broader efforts to consolidate the Greater Bay Area of Hong Kong, Guangdong province and Macau.
Shenzhen authorities recently issued the “Shenzhen Municipal Action Plan for the Implementation of the ‘Opinions Concerning Financial Support for the Establishment of the Greater Bay Area'” (深圳市贯彻落实<关于金融支持粤港澳大湾区建设的意见>行动方案) in mid-July.
The Action Plan calls for the establishment as Shenzhen as a “two category” financial centre – a “global fintech centre” and a “global sustainable finance centre.”
Shenzhen is already home to a slew of key finance and fintech institutions in China, including the Chinese central bank’s Digital Currency Research Institute and Fintech Research Institute; the Institute for RegTech of Future Finance in Shenzhen and Baihang Credit – China’s only “market-based personal credit agency.”
On 28 July Shenzhen also saw the official launch of the “Shenzhen Municipal Financial Sector Information Technology Application Innovation Assault Base” (深圳市金融业信息技术应用创新攻关基地).
The release of the Action Plan follows the release of the “Opinions Concerning Financial Support for the Establishment of the Greater Bay Area” (关于金融支持粤港澳大湾区建设的意见) in May, by the Chinese central bank and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
The Opinions themselves called for “expanding the openness of the regional financial sector and deepening financial cooperation between mainland China and Hong Kong and Macau.”
Shenzhen is one of eight Chinese cities slated to conduct fintech regulatory sandbox trials in 2020, unveiling its first set of four trial application projects at the start of August.
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