World to benefit from China's financial opening: Rogers

Commodities investor James B. Rogers said "the sooner the better" while commenting on Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's latest remarks about opening China's capital market wider to the outside world.

"It will be good for China and for the world," Rogers told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Li said Tuesday that China's capital market will open wider to investors from both home and abroad, with improved laws and policies for early warning and management of risks and harsher punishments against illegal operations like false statements, insider dealing and market manipulation.

"I can go on my computer or telephone and do business instantly all over the world -- but not in China which is the most successful country of the past 30 years," said Rogers.

"The RMB might replace the U.S. dollar someday, but it will take a while so the sooner it starts the better. It cannot even begin when parts of China's markets are closed," he said.

Opening the capital markets wider to overseas investors will also relieve some of the inflationary pressure in China, he said. "The money trapped inside China has to be spent somewhere. It will help once money can come and go freely."

China launched several pilot programs on financial liberalization in 2013, and more are scheduled for this year.

The Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ), established in September, has made key steps including easing cross-border use of RMB, liberalizing interest rates on foreign currency loans, facilitating offshore financing and outbound investment.

Full convertibility of RMB and facilitating offshore financing will be rolled out in the second quarter of 2014 in the FTZ. And trading of crude oil futures on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange is expected to start by the end of the year.

While hailing these achievements, Chinese economists warned of the lurking risks amid the volatility of the market.

Zhang Yansheng, secretary-general of the academic committee at the National Development and Reform Commission, said that a financial crisis spreads at a fast pace with profound impact, so financial risks also need to be closely observed.

"Financial opening is a trend, and China has pushed financial reform to a new phase, especially after the launching of the FTZ and the acceleration of the internationalization pace of RMB, but we need to ensure the stability of RMB while stressing independent monetary policies," Zhang said.

Zhuang Jian, an economist with Asian Development Bank, echoed Rogers, saying that it is very important to bridge China's capital sector to the global market.

"China has reached the middle-income status after reform and opening up in the past three decades. To become a high-income country while avoiding the "middle-income trap", it's crucial for China to build a stronger capital market conforming to international standards while boosting the real economy in the coming years," Zhuang said.

Rogers, the co-founder of the Quantum Fund and creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index, is optimistic about China's economic reform, stressing the country will have the most important and powerful markets in the world once it opens the markets completely.

"Shanghai will take huge market share of currency trading as well as bonds, shares, and IPOs once China's markets are open to the world. And Chinese financial firms will be the place where everyone wants to work and do business," he said.