Li Keqiang, China’s premier, on Tuesday said the country would open up its financial sector ahead of schedule and champion globalisation, amid a slowing global economy and growing restrictions on trade.
“We are all passengers in the same boat” as economic risks rise and global trade slows, Mr Li said as he delivered the keynote address at the World Economic Forum in the Chinese port city of Dalian, known as the summer Davos.
In a speech that largely reinforced existing policy, Mr Li made the announcement that China would bring forward the removal of foreign ownership limits on domestic securities companies to 2020, a year ahead of schedule. Chinese regulators approved applications by JPMorgan and Nomura to establish majority-controlled brokerages in March, after UBS received the first such approval last year.