AFCA Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Forum 2021 held in Beijing's sub-center

The AFCA Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Forum 2021, an event dedicated to promoting pragmatic financial cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was held in Beijing's sub-center, the eastern district of Tongzhou during May 27-28.

The forum includes a visiting activity to the sub-center of Chinese capital city Beijing, the Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Forum and the Symposium on Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Committee (BRFCC) of Asian Financial Cooperation Association (AFCA), all of which attracted experts from over 10 countries including Kazakhstan, Hungary, Japan, Belgium, Thailand, Pakistan, Malaysia, Lebanon, and the United Kingdom.

With the joint efforts of BRI countries and regions, the related financial cooperation has been deepened, financial services such as credit support, equity financing, bond issuance, insurance, payment and settlement have been continuously improved, and a diversified, inclusive, sustainable financial cooperation mechanism has been initially formed in recent years, said Liu Liange, the AFCA chairman in his speech.

Facing the risks and challenges such as the COVID-19 epidemic, Belt and Road financial cooperation should play an active role in promoting common development, inclusive development, innovation development, and green development, according to Liu.

In this year when implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan starts, Tongzhou District, as Beijing's sub-center, is speeding up building of a global wealth management center, international green finance center and financial technology (fintech) innovation center in accordance with its required functional positioning in financial sector, said Zhao Lei, head of the Tongzhou District People's Government of Beijing Municipality.

To fully exploit the opportunities arising from the BRI in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, AIFC, based on its comprehensive advantages as an emerging financial center, is aiming to become the key investment and financing hub between Kazakhstan and China to support the BRI, said Kairat Kelimbetov, governor of Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in a speech.

Currently, Kazakhstan is implementing 56 joint BRI linked projects in finance, industry, transport, and logistics with China, according to Kairat Kelimbetov.

In the Belt and Road financial cooperation, Beijing City has become one of the key capital sources and asset management hubs, boasting advantages in many aspects such as domestic and foreign currency integration fund pool, establishing international Renminbi (RMB) investment and loan fund, piloting equity investment and venture capital share transference business, implementing international vocational qualification in financial sector and preferential individual income tax for high-end foreign talents, introduced Huo Xuewen, director general of Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration.

The BRI brings new historical opportunities to the recovery and prosperity of world economy and financial cooperation, as one of the drivers to promote development of BRI countries and regions, sees wider cooperation areas, more diversified participants and innovative cooperation modes in recent years, said Chen Kewen, secretary general of AFCA.

However, some challenges still exist. Chen thus proposed standards coordination, expanding financing channels, optimizing cross-border payment and settlement, enhancing inclusive finance, utilizing fintech, strengthening risk management and practicing green development concept to better facilitate the Belt and Road financial cooperation.

At the Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Forum held on Friday, the Guidelines for Bank Branches Services were released by the BRFCC of AFCA. The guidelines are based on the extensive practical experience of banking branches in various regions with different levels of economic development, such as the best in terms of improving service environment, enriching service functions, optimizing service processes, standardizing service behavior, improving service quality, effectively utilizing self-service equipment and smart equipment and safeguarding customer rights. It is aimed to provide principles for reference and technical guidance for bank branches in the BRI countries and regions, and to provide Asian wisdom and plans for Belt and Road financial cooperation and collaborative development.

Apart from the guidelines, AFCA unveiled the AFCA Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Practice Report focusing on Belt and Road financial cooperation, especially the investment and financing system. By detailing such business sectors as credit support, equity financing, debt issuance, insurance, payment and settlement services, investment and financing platform construction, inclusive finance, investment risk assessment, protection and dispute resolution, the report systematically sorts out the cooperation situation in recent years, analyzes prominent problems and challenges, and puts forward practical and feasible suggestions based on the actual needs of the participating entities. In addition, through rich and detailed cases and data, the report presents the successful practices and practices of Belt and Road financial cooperation among AFCA members and relevant institutions, and extracts solutions that can be promoted, learned from and replicated.

On Friday, the Symposium on BRFCC of AFCA was held during the forum, to discuss the Belt and Road investment and financing and the work of BRFCC. Representatives from AFCA members introduced respectively development of relevant business relating to the Belt and Road international financial center construction, banking, securities, cross-border payment, financing and merger, and platform construction.

The forum was jointly organized by AFCA, Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration, Tongzhou District People's Government of Beijing Municipality, AIFC, PwC, The Belt & Road Service Connections and China Galaxy Securities.