London to strengthen financial cooperation with China

The City of London's lord mayor Fiona Woolf will lead a delegation of London's financial sector experts to visit Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen between October 9 – 15, to strengthen financial and economic links between the UK and China.

In all three cities, the lord mayor will meet with local government representatives to discuss how London can support China in growing its financial sector.

"I'm delighted to be visiting China during this exciting period of financial transformation. Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen lie at the heart of the Chinese economy, shaping the front line of China's reform and its 'opening up' policy," Woolf says.

She says today both the UK and China are seeking innovative and sustainable growth, which creates a great opportunity to strengthen our relationship and share our views on economic development in both countries.

"As a world leading financial centre, London can assist China's economic development through its unique concentration of international expertise and capital, well established legal and regulatory structures, and multicultural talent pool," Wollf says.

"There's great room for the growth of the cooperation across all sectors, especially in trade and investment. We look forward to finding ways to speed up the development of our partnership, for the mutual benefit of both nations," she says.

In Beijing, Woolf will visit the China Security Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. She will also speak to representatives of the People's Bank of China, and speak at a conference hosted by London Stock Exchange Group.

In Shanghai, Woolf will attend the Pilot China (Shanghai) Free Trade Zone round table discussion, deliver a keynote speech at the Annual Maritime London Shipping Services Seminar, and participate in a seminar that examines how financial services facilitate the growth of small and medium enterprises.

In Shenzhen, Woolf will open an IP seminar hosted by UKTI and Huawei Group, a forum on carbon trading, and the first London-Qianhai RMB Internationalization Forum.

Also in Shenzhen, she will witness a signing of a friendship agreement between the Law Society of England &Wales and Shenzhen Lawyers Association, meet with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and attend a British Chamber of Commerce networking event.

Woolf, who assumed her office as lord mayor a year ago, says she is excited to witness the fast growth of renminbi activities in London. "Of course for London, the big excitement is the growing internationalization of the renminbi," she says.

Currently there are 20 renminbi bonds listed on the London Stock Exchange. Following the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue on Sept 12, the UK government announced that it will issue the first sovereign renminbi bond outside China, worth 2 billion yuan ($325 million; 253 million euros).

Another great breakthrough in China-UK financial sector cooperation is the granting of a branch license to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in London, which allows the bank to expand its lending and financing capability.

Woolf welcomed ICBC's branch license as great news, and says as a dedicated ambassador for the whole of the UK's financial services sector, she will be doing her best to promote Chinese banks that are based in London.