2026 Lujiazui Forum concludes with a new vision for global financial governance

"It's impressive!" "It's another testament to China's opening-up." "The two-day dialogue is insightful and productive." The 2026 Lujiazui Forum wrapped up in Shanghai on June 18. Participants from around the world, including industry leaders, policymakers, and academics, spoke highly of the event and reached a broad consensus on key issues ranging from deepening financial cooperation to boosting shared development.

The "Action Plan for the Development of Offshore Finance at the Shanghai International Financial Center" is released at the 2026 Lujiazui Forum. (Photo/Wang Ying)

As the global political and economic landscape undergoes profound changes, rising geopolitical tensions, rapid technological advances, and shifting macroeconomic cycles are presenting unprecedented challenges to global financial governance. Against this backdrop, this year's forum focused on the theme "Financial Development and Cooperation under the Global Governance Initiative: New Vision, New Challenges, and New Opportunities". More than 70 prominent Chinese and international speakers participated in the two-day event, engaging in extensive discussions on topics including capital market reform, financial collaboration between Shanghai and Hong Kong, lifecycle services for technology finance, targeted inclusive finance, and sustainable finance cooperation.

The widespread recognition of the new vision underscores China's continued efforts to advance institutional opening-up in the financial sector. Senior officials from China's financial regulatory authorities attended and delivered keynote speeches, while an array of new policies and reform initiatives were unveiled. These included expanding the applicability of the STAR Market's fifth listing standard to artificial intelligence companies, launching active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, supporting eligible Hong Kong-listed firms in pursuing domestic listings, and accelerating pilot programs for renminbi foreign exchange futures. Together, these initiatives sent a clear message to global markets: a new round of policy support in China's financial sector is gaining momentum, and the country's vast market is offering new opportunities for global growth and cooperation.

The development of the Shanghai International Financial Center, a key gateway for China's opening-up, has long been a central focus of the Lujiazui Forum. In 2025, Shanghai's financial industry posted solid growth. The sector's value-added rose 9.7 percent year on year to 897.966 billion yuan, while turnover across its financial markets stood at 4,058.95 trillion yuan, up 78.4 percent from 2020, before the start of China's 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

More notable than the headline figures, however, is the structural transformation taking place beneath them. Shanghai's financial sector is enhancing its core competitiveness and global allocation capacity across five key areas: technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance.

One of the forum's landmark outcomes was the release of the "Action Plan for the Development of Offshore Finance at the Shanghai International Financial Center," marking another step forward in the city's development as a global financial hub. Under the plan, Shanghai will explore the feasibility of establishing offshore banking and other financial institutions, steadily expand the use of the digital yuan in offshore business activities, and support Pudong New Area in promoting offshore renminbi trading, cross-border trade settlement, and overseas financing services.

The tide of progress continues to surge forward. The Lujiazui Forum has offered a window into a more open and dynamic future for China's financial sector. At a time of heightened uncertainty in the global economy, China's initiatives are contributing to greater certainty in international financial development and cooperation.