Shifting Capital: The Rise of Financial Centres in Greater China

Chatham House Report

Paola Subacchi, Helena Huang, Alberta Molajoni and Richard Varghese, May 2012

• China needs to develop a deeper and more diversified financial sector that reflects the size and the international integration of its real economy to ensure the efficient allocation of capital. Yet building efficient financial systems in China and modern financial centres in Greater China will be riddled with challenges and obstacles.

• The report focuses on the steps that China is taking to reform its financial services sector through the incremental development of financial centres in the Greater China region. The report takes a broad regional approach, looking at four key international financial centres (IFCs): Shanghai, Taipei, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

• The development of these four IFCs provides a picture of the complex evolution of China's financial reform, which is a policy-driven process where political considerations directly interact with market forces. 

• China's financial reform is a gradual process that will take time to deliver the expected results, but it is critical for the global economy that China manages its transition to a modern financial system. 

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