Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Monday to discuss trial regulations on accountability for failing to prevent or neutralise financial risks, Xinhua news agency reported.
Experts said the meeting sent a “strong signal” that China will continue to step up efforts to prevent and neutralise major risks in the financial sector, in line with its goal of promoting high-quality development and building itself into a global financial power.
The experts also noted that a series of new measures to address financial risks, followed by trial provisions on accountability, will further strengthen institutional mechanisms to better prevent and resolve risks, and promote the sound and high-quality development of the financial market, which plays a crucial role in the overall economy.
In particular, the meeting stressed that the prevention and neutralisation of financial risks are related to national security, overall development and people’s property security. According to the meeting, this is an important obstacle to be overcome in order to ensure high-quality development.
The meeting noted that the trial provisions on accountability are also intended to encourage officials at all levels to form an accurate view of performance and better perform various tasks, such as comprehensively strengthening financial supervision, preventing and neutralising financial risks, and promoting high-quality financial development, and stressed the strictness in implementing the trial provisions.
Experts said the meeting underscored the Chinese top leadership’s focus on fighting financial risks and promoting high-quality development in the financial sector.
‘Tackling financial risks has become a top priority for the CPC Central Committee, and eliminating loopholes and weaknesses requires continuous efforts,’ Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute of Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Monday.
Dong said that since the second half of 2023, when the stock market faced severe downside risks, there have also been major risks in related areas such as financial markets, the property sector and local government debt, which also require tighter regulation. I believe it is essential to strengthen accountability provisions to overcome the weak links in our country’s financial regulatory system,” he added.
Monday’s meeting followed a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on April 30, which stressed the need to continuously prevent and neutralise risks in key areas. The meeting called for the exploration of policies to reduce the housing inventory and improve the quality of new housing. The plan for local governments to resolve debt risks should be fully implemented, and provinces, cities and counties with high debt risks should not only effectively reduce their debt burden but also maintain stable development, it said.
The tone-setting Central Financial Work Conference in October 2023 emphasised comprehensively strengthening financial supervision, improving the financial system, optimising financial services, and preventing and resolving risks. Then, in March, the Government Work Report called for further efforts to effectively prevent and resolve risks in key areas.
