Shanghai set to host Lujiazui financial forum in June after last-minute cancellation in 2022

The Lujiazui Forum will be held on June 8 and 9, and will feature over 70 speakers from top financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs
The newly established National Financial Regulatory Administration is the forum’s rotating host this year

Banking & finance

Zhang Shidongin ShanghaiandDaniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 6:30pm, 31 May 2023

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The high-profile Lujiazui financial forum returns to Shanghai next month after last year’s event was suspended a day before the start because of Covid-19 restrictions.

The two-day gathering on June 8 and 9 will feature seven plenary and three night sessions, and will be held under the theme of global financial opening and cooperation as the new driver for the economic recovery, Yin Xin, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai government, said at a media briefing on Wednesday.

More than 70 speakers will join the panel discussions and representatives from global financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, will attend the conference, she said.

The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), the newly established super financial watchdog, is the forum’s rotating host this year, Yin said. The other hosts are the People’s Bank of China and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, speaks during the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on June 13, 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

While the detailed agenda of the conference has not yet been disclosed, a top official from the NFRA, as the host, is expected to deliver a keynote speech on the first day.

“The Lujiazui Forum has already become an authoritative financial forum in China and a premium international financial dialogue platform of great influence,” said Ge Ping, the deputy head of the Shanghai branch of the NFRA. “It’s also a platform for the national financial regulatory departments to deliver important signals and make the voice heard outside. It has also witnessed the development of Shanghai as a financial centre.”

Last year, the event was called off a day before the start after officials detected a single, asymptomatic Covid-19 infection in Shanghai, raising concerns about an outbreak in the city of 25 million people. In 2020 and 2021, strict restrictions meant the number of people attending the forum was limited and most sessions were conducted virtually.

The annual event started in 2009 after Shanghai unveiled ambitions to transform itself into a global financial centre. The high-profile meeting brings together top bankers, financiers, fund managers and analysts who hope to take advantage of the forum to lobby mainland regulators to further liberalise the markets.

“Regulators and Shanghai officials use the event to attract overseas capital and financial professionals, while global banks and institutions come to look for new investment opportunities,” said Wang Feng, the chairman of Shanghai-based financial services group Ye Lang Capital.

“A big get-together this year after three years of strict pandemic curbs will offer a good chance for both Chinese authorities and financial services firms to map out a new growth plan for Shanghai and China’s financial sector.”

Liu He, (second left) the then Chinese vice-premier, attends the launch ceremony of Star Market at the Lujiazui Forum on June 13, 2019. Photo: Xinhua

In 2019, the Shanghai Stock Exchange officially launched the Star Market, China’s Nasdaq-style board, at the Lujiazui Forum where Liu He, the then vice-premier, pressed the button to kick off the much-anticipated tech-heavy market.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Shanghai Communist Party boss Chen Jining met JPMorgan’s chief executive Jamie Dimon.

Chen said that he hoped the top US bank would help to promote investment in the city’s financial sector and pledged to improve the business environment to support their operations.