China, Germany to boost financial sector cooperation

China and Germany yesterday signed a series of agreements to strengthen cooperation in banking and financial sector supervision, as Beijing moves to open up the country’s financial markets. The agreements were signed at the end of a two day visit by German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz to Beijing for talks with Vice Premier Liu He, China’s top economic official. “German insurers and banks will now have easier access to the Chinese market,” said Scholz at the conclusion of the talks.

“This is an important step that we have been waiting for a long time.” But Scholz also urged equal treatment for foreign companies operating in China -- a long-running complaint from the European Union and a central issue in Beijing’s trade war with the United States. “We need rules of the game that work well, and reciprocity is the key to achieving this, and that means that Chinese companies in Germany and German companies in China are treated the same,” he said.

The talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing also focused on allowing German financial institutions to underwrite “Panda bonds” -- yuan denominated bonds issued by non-Chinese issuers. “China welcomes more qualified German institutions to join the yuan cross-border payment system and more qualified German banks to participate in the opening and innovation of China’s financial markets,” Liu said.