What’s new: China said it is willing to support French financial institutions in investing and issuing bonds in the nation, as both countries agreed to more cooperation in banking and the financial markets, according to a bilateral dialogue agreement on Monday.
As part of the pledges, both sides welcome the increasing presence of a qualified French bank in China’s consumer finance market. They also expressed a willingness to facilitate the acquisition of a consumer finance company by the selected French bank and its Chinese partner, a statement on the dialogue said, without naming the bank.
In addition, both sides said they support qualified French financial institutions in establishing wholly owned securities companies in China.
The context: The pledges were made at the eighth China-France high-level economic and financial dialogue, chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.
French bank BNP Paribas SA is a participant in China’s consumer finance market, as it has partnered with Bank of Nanjing Co. Ltd. to run a consumer finance business.
Over the past months, BNP Paribas (China) Ltd., BNP Paribas’s China subsidiary, has been licensed to provide custody services for overseas institutional investors’ assets in China’s stock and bond markets under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program. It has also submitted an application to set up a new securities company in China.
Related: In Depth: China’s Opened Its Doors to Foreign Financial Firms — Can They Prosper?
Contact reporter Guo Yingzhe (yingzheguo@caixin.com) and editor Bertrand Teo (bertrandteo@caixin.com)
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