(Yicai) Feb. 5 — China’s financial reform and opening-up during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for economic and social development will continue to center on deepening institutional-level opening-up, aligning rules and standards with international norms, steadily advancing yuan internationalization, and strengthening risk prevention in an open environment, according to a recent report by Ernst & Young.
The approach aims to help build a modern financial system that is more resilient, more efficient, and enjoys higher international recognition. During this period, China should also strongly support qualified Chinese-funded financial institutions in expanding overseas and improving their global service networks, while further optimizing the business environment and attracting distinctive foreign financial institutions, the report said.
Reviewing key policies, events, and trends in China’s financial market reform and opening-up last year, the report noted that 2025, the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan, marked a new stage of systematic deepening and high-level advancement. Guided by the spirit of the Central Financial Work Conference, the financial sector focused on technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance, while continuously promoting institutional opening-up, accelerating the shift from scale expansion to quality improvement, and steadily advancing toward becoming a financial power.
China’s financial opening-up shifted last year from measures mainly focused on market access to institutional opening-up centered on aligning rules, regulations, management, and standards, the report said. Key regions such as Shanghai, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Hainan Free Trade Port, and the Yangtze River Delta region recorded notable achievements in opening-up and innovation, forming a new pattern of all-round opening-up featuring multiple breakthroughs and regional coordination.
Market Opening and Yuan Internationalization Accelerate
In terms of market development, two-way opening-up of the capital market continued to deepen. Optimization of the Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect programs significantly boosted northbound and southbound fund activity. Trading volume under the Bond Connect grew rapidly, while the scale of yuan-denominated bonds held by overseas institutions rose steadily. The pace of yuan internationalization also accelerated. As of October 2025, the Cross-border Interbank Payment System covered 189 countries and regions worldwide, and the digital yuan achieved leapfrog development, creating a “dual-wheel drive” for yuan internationalization.
Efforts to attract foreign capital and support domestic institutions in going global advanced in parallel. Foreign banks, securities firms, insurers, and public funds sped up their expansion in China, focusing on specialized areas such as wealth management, green finance, and technology insurance. Chinese institutions, meanwhile, expanded overseas networks, enhanced international competitiveness by setting up branches and participating in global governance, and strengthened service capabilities in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative and in emerging markets.
At the business level, the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor and Qualified Foreign Limited Partner systems continued to improve, while quotas for Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors steadily increased. Mechanisms such as cross-border Wealth Management Connect, exchange-traded fund interconnection, and mutual recognition of funds were further refined, promoting deeper integration between domestic and overseas markets.
The report also emphasized closer integration between finance and technology, noting that a financial support system covering the entire cycle of technological innovation is gradually taking shape, providing strong backing for cultivating new quality productive forces and supporting the real economy.
Editor: Emmi Laine