China deepens financial sector opening-up with new reforms in Shanghai

• China to launch international e-CNY operations center in Shanghai to boost digital finance
• QFIIs to gain wider access to derivatives and ETF options starting October 9
• Offshore renminbi bond initiative to support BRI projects and global expansion

China has taken significant steps to further open up its financial sector and capital markets, with Shanghai leading the charge towards reform and deeper international cooperation in the context of an increasingly fragmented global financial framework. At the recently held 2025 Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, Chinese officials announced a slew of new initiatives to further institutional-level opening-up and foreign participation.

Some of the major measures include the establishment of an international operations center for the e-CNY in Shanghai, increased access for foreign institutions to piloted financial programs, and re-balancing of the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program, including increasing QFII access to 100 futures and options products only, as well as allowing QFIIs to trade ETF options to hedge beginning October 9th.

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Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, said that China should bring its financial framework in line with high-standard global consensus, with an emphasis on inviting foreign institutions to participate in free trade zones. CSRC Chairman Wu Qing said the lowering of QFIIs contractual thresholds would help reduce barriers to their market engagement.

Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People’s Bank of China, noted, the establishment of an e-CNY center, offshore bond development in Shanghai’s FTZ, to support internationalizing renminbi enterprises and support infrastructure related to the Belt and Road Initiative.