The People's Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will hold a seminar in Shanghai on June 7, offering an opportunity for market participants to exchange views on the development of financial infrastructure.

Meanwhile, more than 300 participants attended a seminar on the subject in Beijing today, to share their experiences and reinforce co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland regarding financial infrastructure development.

In a speech at the seminar, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan pointed out the remarkable achievements in developing financial infrastructure in China, in particular safe and efficient payment and settlement systems. 

However, he said, with the rapid expansion of China's financial industry and global economic integration, new requirements for and challenges to financial infrastructure have emerged.

China's financial industry should learn from Hong Kong's experiences in avoiding settlement risk, improving settlement efficiency and meeting market demands, he said.

Hong Kong's experience invaluable

Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam said Hong Kong has been devoting a great deal of effort to developing financial infrastructure, and has a multi-dimensional and multi-currency payment, settlement and custodian system which met the world's most advanced standards.

He said the system provided safe, robust, efficient and comprehensive settlement services and has gradually become a hub for processing cross-border fund transfers in the region.

He hoped that Hong Kong's financial infrastructure could contribute to the Mainland's financial market reform, in particular its reform of the foreign-exchange market.