Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai — China’s three major urban centers — have all unveiled new, competing city plans that map out their ascendancy into the position of China’s international financial capital. From the Financial Times:
In reality, the only Chinese city that can legitimately call itself a global financial centre is the former British colony of Hong Kong, which remains outside the mainland’s authoritarian regulatory system and its largely closed capital account.
“Many cities in China have the political will and administrative ability to build buildings and hardware, but it will take them much longer to build the software,” said Dong Tao, regional chief economist for Credit Suisse, who is based in Hong Kong.
“There is no question in my mind China will have some world-class financial centres eventually, but I think it is overly optimistic to think they can do it in the next few years.”
Even so, both Beijing, China’s capital, and Shanghai, home to the mainland’s largest stock and commodities futures markets, are eager to challenge Hong Kong’s status.