Sibos kicks off in Chinese mainland for first time

File photo shows an exterior view of the People's Bank of China in Beijing, capital of China. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's central bank will continue to boost the high-quality opening-up of the country's financial sector, which has become an important force behind the development of the financial sector, Lu Lei, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC), said in a speech delivered to Sibos, the annual financial services conference held by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), in Beijing on Monday.

Lu said that China is currently the world's second-largest bond market, with overseas investors holding nearly 4.6 trillion yuan ($646.68 billion) of Chinese bonds. The PBC will continue to provide a favorable financial environment for overseas investors to access the Chinese market and conduct business here, enhance financial market operations according to the best international practices, and strengthen connectivity with overseas financial markets, Lu said, the Shanghai Securities Journal reported.

"We will continue to step up local currency cooperation with other currency authorities so as to reduce foreign exchange rate risks and enhance investment and financing efficiency," Lu said, noting that the PBC will continue to promote the healthy development of cross-border payments.

This year marks the first time Sibos is held in the Chinese mainland, offering a Chinese perspective for global financial institutions to look at the global payments infrastructure.

During the four-day event, more than 500 speakers will share their insights and outlooks across more than 250 sessions, covering topics such as artificial intelligence, digital currencies, and embedded finance, according to SWIFT.

"The opportunity to be here looking at the global payments infrastructure, and do that through the lens of a Chinese market and Chinese perspective, is a special opportunity for us and couldn't be more timely," Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive, Standard Chartered PLC, told the Global Times on Monday.

Fundamentally, payments are about connecting the world, connecting the world through trade and through investment, and Sibos has always been at the heart of that. And China is at the heart of the system of global trade and cross-border payments, Winters said.

The financial event being held in the mainland for the first time underscores the growing importance of China in global payments, including the growing share of yuan payments worldwide, Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Monday.

It also shows that other economies are strengthening their economic and trade ties with China, Xi said, noting that the world's second-largest economy offers its wisdom to build an open world economic system.

About 19 Chinese financial institutions will debut at the main exhibition area at Sibos, including China Merchants Bank Co, Industrial Bank Co, and the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, the Shanghai Securities Journal reported.

According to the PBC 2024 report on the internalization of the yuan, in the first eight months, cross-border yuan payments and receipts for trade in goods accounted for 26.5 percent of the total settlements of local and foreign currencies in the same period, up from 24.8 percent in 2023.

In the next stage, the central bank said it will improve the fundamental institutional arrangements for the cross-border use of the yuan, further open up the financial market, strengthen the financial infrastructure, and enhance regulation of cross-border yuan businesses.