2015-11-20
V. Vasiliauskas: Closer cooperation between Lithuania's and China's financial institutions would be beneficial for the financial sectors in both countries
The Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Vitas Vasiliauskas, on Saturday, 21 November, is going to Beijing (The People's Republic of China). During the visit, the Head of the Bank of Lithuania will meet with Mr. Zhou Xiaochuan, Governor of the People's Bank of China — the central bank of the People's Republic of China, the heads of the China Banking Regulation Commission and of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, as well as the management of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Meetings with other representatives from the public and private financial sectors are also planned.
“China is not only important to us as a trade partner, but also as a state which has a tremendous influence on the world's, as well as Lithuania's financial system,” said V. Vasiliauskas. He emphasised that, currently, direct relations in the field of finances in both countries are poorly developed; however, the potential for cooperation is high and it is namely now that new realistic opportunities to use it are opening.
According to the head of the Bank of Lithuania, “China is rapidly reforming its financial sector by liberalising its activities and providing opportunities, even incentives, for financial institutions to enter international markets. This process is just gaining momentum and, therefore, it is now the right moment to introduce China to the possibilities of our financial sector”.
The Bank of Lithuania is consistently developing relations with China's financial sector institutions. With the Bank of Lithuania and China's Securities Regulatory Commission having agreed on cooperation in the field of securities regulation more than two years ago (in September 2013), Lithuania's financial institutions received a possibility to directly invest in China's capital market.
The Bank of Lithuania is among the first central banks in the European Union to have invested in China, and the first bank of the European System of Central Banks to have obtained the status of a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) in China