China’s move to open up financial sector comes at right time: German economist

China’s latest announcement to further open up the country’s financial sector to foreign investment is good news for both China and the rest of the world and it comes “quite at the right time,” a German economics professor has said.

In an interview with Xinhua on July 24, Prof. Horst Loechel at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management said China’s decision to lift foreign ownership limits on securities, fund management and futures companies by 2020 is a good and important move to improve the capital allocation of the country.

Such move has come a year earlier than originally planned, but Loechel believed it was at a reasonable pace. “We need actually more competition for China’s financial institutes in order to speed that up,” Loechel said.

China has long promised to further reform and open up its financial sector. This week, China’s sci-tech innovation board (STAR), which is its latest Nasdaq-style high-tech board, started trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, bolstering China’s capital market reform efforts.

Speaking of the STAR market, Loechel said it is clear that the future development of the overall macro-economy, not only China but all over the world, will be driven by high-tech companies.

If sci-tech companies get the funds and expertise they need, they could further drive the development of China, he said.

A little bit more long-term thinking on the part of Chinese retail investors will truly help stabilize the market, he added.

Looking ahead, Loechel sees great opportunities for financial cooperation between Germany and China, as the China Europe International Exchange, or CEINEX, a signature project of the German and Shanghai stock exchanges, has already launched some Chinese shares in Frankfurt very successfully.

“It is hoped from the Chinese side as well as the German side to continue with this development, especially also with regard to high-tech companies,” he said.