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CHENGDU, China, Jan. 15, 2024 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

On January 12, Chengdu Jiaozi Financial Conference, co-hosted by Chengdu

Municipal Local Financial Regulation Bureau, Sichuan Branch of Xinhua News

Agency, and China Economic Information Service of Xinhua News Agency, was held

at the Jiaozi Financial Museum in Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone. The conference, themed

"Jiaozi Culture and Financial Technology: Innovative Exploration of Western

Financial Center Construction", aimed to jointly review the millennium-old

Jiaozi culture and delve into the opportunities presented by financial

technology.

During the conference, experts, scholars, and industry professionals engaged in

in-depth discussions through keynote speeches, roundtable dialogues, and other

activities. They focused on topics such as Jiaozi financial culture, the

development of financial technology and banking business transformation,

high-quality digitization transformation of capital markets, optimizing the

innovation ecosystem of financial technology, and financial services for the

real economy. The aim was to collectively explore the intrinsic relationship

between Jiaozi culture and financial technology, as well as to explore the

development opportunities for financial technology innovation, with the goal of

providing insights and suggestions for the high-quality development of

Chengdu's finance and the construction of the western financial center.

It is understood that the day of the conference also marked the 1000th

anniversary of the birth of the world's first paper currency, Jiaozi, in

Chengdu. Jiaozi's birth predates the appearance of European paper currency by

more than 600 years, not only breaking the limitations of traditional metallic

currency but also becoming a significant milestone in human's currency history.

Today, within Chengdu Jiaozi Financial Museum, numerous precious artifacts on

display shed light on the birth and development of Jiaozi, as well as the

profound impact of its culture of integrity, open-mindedness, and innovative

spirit on the subsequent development and transformation of finance.

In recent years, Chengdu has made remarkable achievements in the construction

of the western financial center. It has vigorously implemented the "seven major

projects", including the aggregation of financial institutions, enhancement of

financial markets, modern financial characteristics, innovation-driven finance,

expanded financial opening, optimized financial ecology, and interconnected

financial infrastructure. Efforts have been focused on "five major areas", such

as technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and

digital finance. Finance has been continuously injecting "vitality" into the

high-quality development of Chengdu's real economy, becoming a key element in

promoting the smooth circulation and deep integration of innovation chains,

industry chains, and talent chains in Chengdu.

As of now, Chengdu has more than 2,800 various intermediary and financial

institutions. The research results of the "2023 China 'Mass Entrepreneurship

and Innovation' Financial Index" released by the China (Shenzhen) Development

Institute at the conference also indicate that Chengdu's "Mass Entrepreneurship

and Innovation" financial index ranks first in the central and western regions.

Furthermore, the conference also unveiled the "Xinhua Silk Road Western

Center". The establishment of this Center in Chengdu will be conducive to

Chengdu leveraging national platform advantages and taking the opportunity of

jointly building the western financial center by Chengdu and Chongqing to

continue strengthening financial services related to the Belt and Road

Initiative (BRI).

Source: Chengdu Municipal Local Financial Regulation Bureau