Five Departments Jointly Propose 20 Policies to Pilot the Promotion of Institutional Opening-up in the Financial Sector

On January 22, 2025, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) published the Opinions on Piloting the Adoption of International High Standards to Promote Institutional Opening-up in the Financial Sector in Conditional Pilot Free Trade Zones (Ports) (the “Opinions”) on its website, with effect from January 16, 2025.

The Opinions propose 20 policy measures in six aspects: allowing foreign financial institutions to provide new financial services similar to those of Chinese financial institutions, making decisions within 120 days on the applications for related services by financial institutions, supporting the lawful cross-border purchase of certain types of foreign financial services, facilitating the transfer of funds for foreign investors’ related investments, improving arrangements for cross-border financial data flows, and comprehensively strengthening financial regulation. These Opinions will be piloted first in the pilot free trade zones of Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Fujian, and Beijing, as well as the Hainan Free Trade Port and other cooperation platforms with significant external opening-up tasks.