Optimize financial market structure layout
Our reporter Li Hualin
The importance of the financial market system has been further highlighted. At the opening ceremony of a special seminar for leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels to promote high-quality financial development, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed accelerating the construction of China's financial industry from six aspects: financial regulation, financial markets, financial institutions, financial supervision, financial products and services, and financial infrastructure. Characteristic modern financial system, among which, it is clear that a sound “financial market system with a reasonable structure” must be established and improved.
What is a "well-structured financial market system"? What other irrationalities exist in the current financial market structure? How to improve it further? The reporter interviewed experts and scholars.
Better adapt to changes in economic development
As one of the "six major systems", the establishment and improvement of a "reasonably structured financial market system" faces many tasks. Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of China Merchants Union, believes that a reasonably structured financial market system should be a coordinated development of the banking market, stock market, bond market, insurance market, etc., with a reasonable proportion of indirect financing and direct financing, high efficiency in the allocation of financial resources, and quality and efficiency in serving the real economy. high.
"The financial market system is an important part of the financial system. The structure of the financial market system includes multiple levels." Feng Xuming, director of the Macroeconomic Think Tank Research Office of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, for example, the structure of the direct financing market and indirect financing market, equity financing The structure of the market and bond financing market, the structure of the onshore financial market and offshore financial market, etc.
The structure of the financial market system is not static. "A good financial market system needs to dynamically adapt to the economic structure to better play the role of finance in serving the real economy." Feng Xuming said that in recent years, driven by technological revolution and industrial transformation, coupled with the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society , digital and intelligent transformation, my country's economic structure is undergoing profound evolution, which has put forward new requirements for the structure of the financial market system. The financial market system structure should also be dynamically adjusted and optimized to better adapt to changes in the economic structure and serve the real economy more effectively.
Zhu Keli, executive director of the China Information Association and founding director of the Guoyan New Economic Research Institute, believes that a reasonably structured financial market system should be a diversified, hierarchical, and orderly financial ecosystem with mutual coordination and complementation among markets. Among them, the stock market, bond market, currency market, foreign exchange market, futures market and derivatives market all play their own indispensable roles and together form the core of financial activities in a country and even the world.
"The key to understanding this concept is 'reasonable structure.'" Zhu Keli said, that is to say, the market has reached a dynamic equilibrium state in terms of depth, breadth, liquidity and diversity of participants, which can not only improve the financial market's It can improve operational efficiency, reduce transaction costs, effectively disperse and resolve financial risks, and provide stable and sustainable financial services for the real economy.
A reasonably structured financial market system is of far-reaching significance to the healthy development of the economy. Zhu Keli said that the financial market system is not only an important platform for national macro-control, but also the main channel for corporate financing and investment, and a key place for residents' wealth management and risk hedging. A mature and stable financial market system can effectively guide the flow of funds to areas with the most innovation and development potential, promote economic structure optimization and industrial upgrading, and can also timely reflect changes in economic fundamentals through the price discovery mechanism, providing policymakers with Accurate signals and evidence.
The problem of unreasonable imbalance still exists
After years of reform and development, our country has become a financial power, with various financial institutions rising rapidly and a huge financial market. At present, our country has built the world's largest banking market and the world's second largest insurance, stock, and bond markets. The various markets are interconnected and support each other, becoming the starting point for building a modern financial system with Chinese characteristics.
Data show that as of the end of November 2023, the custody balance of my country's bond market was 156.9 trillion yuan. As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, the total domestic and foreign currency assets of my country's banking financial institutions were 409.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.5%; the total assets of insurance companies were 29.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 9% from the beginning of 2023.
While developing rapidly, my country's current financial market system still has problems such as an unreasonable structure and unbalanced development among various markets. "The market structure needs to be further optimized." Dong Ximiao said that the banking industry is "unique" in my country's financial market. The assets of banking financial institutions account for more than 90% of the total assets of financial institutions. The stock market, bond market, insurance market, etc. also need to accelerate development. . Proposing to build a reasonably structured financial market system has strong pertinence and practical significance, and points out the future direction of my country's financial market.
"At present, the development of my country's direct financing market lags behind the needs of the real economy, and it still shows a pattern dominated by indirect financing, with a low proportion of direct financing. The development and perfection of the equity financing market needs to be improved urgently, especially the equity that serves technological innovation and industrial transformation and upgrading. The financing market is not developed enough to meet the practical needs of high-quality economic development." Feng Xuming said that in addition, the development of green finance needs to be accelerated, and the construction of the carbon market is progressing slowly; the development of the offshore financial market lags behind, and the onshore financial market and offshore financial market The relationship between them needs to be optimized.
From the analysis of each market itself, each market faces different problems and challenges. Zhu Keli said that in the stock market, the market volatility is high, the speculative atmosphere is strong, and the proportion of institutional investors is low; in the bond market, the credit rating system is not yet perfect, and market segmentation still exists, affecting the liquidity of bonds. and pricing efficiency; in the foreign exchange market, the RMB exchange rate formation mechanism needs further marketization, and the foreign exchange derivatives market also needs to be further developed; in the futures and derivatives market, there is still considerable room for improvement in product types and market size. In addition, there are also differences in regulatory standards and information disclosure requirements between markets, which increases the complexity and risks of cross-market transactions. This undoubtedly affects the stable operation and functioning of the financial market, and also restricts the ability of the financial market to serve the real economy. .
Need to coordinate efforts from multiple dimensions
How to build a reasonably structured financial market system? Experts believe that the key to a reasonably structured financial market system lies in structure, with the focus being reasonable, and further optimizing the structure should be the focus of the future.
"In the next step, while promoting high-quality development of the banking industry and forming a reasonable distribution of large, medium and small banks, we should further optimize the financing structure, vigorously develop a multi-level capital market system, deepen the registration system reform with information disclosure as the core, and cultivate first-class investment banks and investment institutions, and continue to increase the proportion of direct financing." Dong Ximiao said that the bond market is an important part of the multi-level capital market. It should be guided by deepening the reform of the bond registration system, improve the bond market issuance, trading and management system, and expand the bond market to the outside world. opening up to further stimulate the vitality of the bond market. Insurance is an economic shock absorber and social stabilizer. Insurance companies should be further encouraged to enrich the supply of health, pension, wealth management and other products, continue to improve their innovation capabilities, expand their service scope, and provide effective protection for major technological innovations and key livelihood projects.
Feng Xuming believes that the structural optimization of the financial market system can be carried out from four aspects: first, vigorously develop the direct financing market and increase the proportion of direct financing; second, use science and technology finance as the key breakthrough point, accelerate the development and expansion of the equity financing market, and promote the formation of "tech- The third is to accelerate the development of green finance and steadily build and expand a carbon market suitable for my country's national conditions and characteristics of the current development stage; the fourth is to coordinate the promotion of onshore financial markets and offshore financial markets in the context of accelerating the construction of a new development pattern. Financial market construction and steady advancement of RMB internationalization.
Among them, as an important place for direct financing, the capital market has high hopes. Recently, the China Securities Regulatory Commission held an enlarged meeting of the Party Committee to convey the spirit of studying and implementing the opening ceremony of the special seminar on promoting high-quality financial development by leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels. We will accelerate the construction of a modern capital market with Chinese characteristics in terms of stable operation, further comprehensively deepening the reform and opening up of the capital market, strengthening comprehensive supervision in accordance with the law, effectively preventing and defusing risks, and deepening the comprehensive and strict governance of the party.
In general, building a well-structured financial market is a systematic project that requires coordinated efforts from multiple dimensions. Zhu Keli said that first of all, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of market infrastructure, improve the efficiency and security of transactions, settlements, clearing and other links, and reduce market operation costs. Secondly, the structure of market participants should be optimized, diversified investment entities should be cultivated, and the proportion and influence of institutional investors should be increased. Thirdly, it is necessary to strengthen market supervision and risk prevention, establish and improve cross-market and cross-department supervisory coordination mechanisms, and achieve information sharing and supervisory coordination. Finally, it is necessary to promote market innovation and product diversification, encourage financial institutions to develop financial products and services that meet the needs of the real economy, and improve the service efficiency and inclusiveness of the financial market. In this way, through comprehensive policies and multiple measures, it is expected to gradually build a more mature, stable, open, and orderly financial market system, providing strong support and long-term guarantee for the high-quality development of the real economy. (Economic Daily)