BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 16th China-ASEAN Expo will be held in Nanning, Guangxi, China from Sept 20 to 23, 2019. According to Wang Lei, the Secretary General of the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat, a financial service exhibition will be arranged in Nanning International Exhibition Center for the financial institutions to display cross-border financing, cross-border settlement, fintech, ITFIN. Some financial institutions have confirmed their participation, such as Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, ICBC, HSBC (China) and Singapore's DBS Bank, etc.
Banks from ten ASEAN member countries have established 36 branches in China. Banks from Singapore and Thailand have the most branches. Three Thai banks have set up 9 branches in China, out of which Bangkok Bank has established four branches in Beijing and Shanghai. These banks are engaged in businesses such as wholesale banking and retail banking, and continue to diversify. Meanwhile, branches of Chinese financial institutions are also increasing in ASEAN.
In addition, China and ASEAN are also promoting the establishment of a bank's bilateral settlement network to facilitate cross-border RMB trade settlement. China has introduced direct transactions in the inter-bank foreign exchange market, including RMB against Singapore dollar, Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht, innovating the listing of RMB against Cambodian Riel. China also has reached agreements with Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries on the establishment of RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFIIs). The total investment will be 200 billion yuan and the bilateral local-currency swap lines between them amounted to 650 billion yuan. RMB cross-border trade settlement helps both avoiding exchange rate risk, reducing the exchange costs in enterprise settlements.
Capital Finance is an important pivot for the construction proposed by the BRI. Financial cooperation plays an important role in building a closer China-ASEAN community of Shared future.
The China-ASEAN Expo has held a series of activities, such as the financial service exhibitions, the China-ASEAN Summit Forum on Financial Cooperation and Development which has been held for 10 sessions. More than 1,000 institutions, 3,500 financial leaders and business elites from China, ASEAN, Europe, the United States and other countries have attended.