An analysis of the causes of the financial center fever in China
We believe that there has been a craze about financial centers in China. Although there are many specific reasons and each city has its own different considerations, on the whole, the main reasons are nothing more than the following three aspects:
First of all, building a financial center can enhance the status and popularity of a city. Under the condition of modern market economy, the status and popularity of a city are very important to its development. If a city wants to gain higher status and popularity at home and abroad, it needs not only strong economic strength, but also developed financial industry, financial market and financial center. London, new york, Tokyo, Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong are world-famous and play an important role in the operation of the world financial market. One of the main reasons is that these cities are the locations of global or regional international financial centers. Especially in today's increasingly internationalized and globalized economy and finance, whether a country or a city can play a more important role in the world economic and financial operation depends on whether it can become an international financial center. Take Singapore and Hong Kong as examples. These two cities are very small places. They are world-famous not because of their huge economic scale and strength, but because they are all famous international financial centers in Asia. Judging from the domestic situation in China, one of the main reasons why Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen play an important role in China's economic development and financial operation is that they have relatively rich financial resources. In particular, Shanghai also has domestic financial markets such as stock exchange, gold exchange and futures exchange, and in fact has the status of China's domestic financial center. It is precisely because whether it can become a financial center is directly related to the status and popularity of a city, so it is not difficult to understand the rise of financial center fever in some economic center cities in China.
Secondly, building a financial center is a sign of a city's strong economic strength. According to the general principle that economy determines finance, the financial situation and position of a city are determined by its economic situation and position. The history of the emergence and development of international financial centers such as London and new york shows that it is precisely because of their strong economic strength that these cities have gradually and naturally evolved into world-famous international financial centers. Therefore, it can be said that the status of a city's financial center is actually the display and embodiment of its economic strength. Any city that dares to propose the construction of financial centers at different levels means that it is confident that it has the economic strength that matches the corresponding financial centers.
Third, building a financial center can promote the economic development of a city. According to the general principle of Marxist economics that economy determines finance and finance reacts on economy, although whether a city can become a financial center fundamentally depends on its economic strength; On the other hand, if a city can become an international or domestic financial center through the government's promotion, it will in turn greatly promote the economic development of financial centers. Because the process of building a financial center is the process of gathering financial resources, it will inevitably bring huge capital inflows to the location of the financial center, thus effectively promoting local economic growth. Our research group conducted an empirical study on the relationship between regional financial development and regional economic growth in Shanghai and Beijing. The results show that Beijing's financial development plays a significant role in promoting economic growth, and its elasticity is 1.66, that is, every increase in financial development will lead to an increase in economic growth 1.66%, while an increase in previous financial development 1% will lead to an increase in current economic growth. Shanghai financial development 1% will lead to economic growth of 6.579%, while the previous financial development 1% will lead to economic growth of 0.35% in the current period. In addition, in the process of financial center construction, with the gathering of financial institutions at home and abroad, it will also enhance the economic structure and industrial structure of a city, increase local employment and tax revenue, and bring a large number of related talents. It is precisely because of the formation and development of financial centers that they can bring endless economic and non-economic benefits to their cities. Therefore, it is reasonable for many cities in China to call for the establishment of financial centers at different levels.
Under the condition of modern market economy, the essence of international economic competition lies in mastering the leading position of international finance and competing for the control and domination of global capital. For any country, the rise of an international financial center can not only improve its position and influence on the world stage, but also effectively promote its economic development. Because of this, many countries and regions in the world today, including Asia, are trying to cultivate a big city in their own country or region into a regional or global international financial center, without exception.
As far as many big cities in Chinese mainland compete for financial centers, Shanghai with the best comprehensive conditions is considered as the most promising city to compete for international financial centers. Historically, Shanghai was once the largest international financial center in China and even the Far East, with rich financial history and culture. Judging from the current situation, today's Shanghai has formed a relatively complete financial system including the securities market, interbank lending market, bond market, futures market, foreign exchange market and gold market, and has become the region with the largest number of financial institutions gathered at home and abroad, the largest financial transaction volume and the most standardized operation.
Over the years, Shanghai has made great efforts to build an international financial center around its goal. Although remarkable progress has been made, compared with some established global and even regional international financial centers, there is a big gap in both hard and soft environment. As a development strategy, building an international financial center has become the highest ideal for the development of Shanghai's financial industry and even the whole city, but there is still a long way to go to realize this ideal.
Based on the strategic consideration of global financial competition in the future, while maintaining and upgrading international finance centre's position, China needs Qi Xin's cooperation to build Shanghai into a high-level global international financial center. Apart from Hongkong, if a world-class international financial center rises on the land of China, it will play a vital role in the long-term development and financial security of China in the future. If China has a global international financial center like London and new york, it can provide a more effective financial service platform, better meet the needs of China's economic development to the world, and greatly improve China's voice and pricing power in international commodities and financial products, thus contributing to China's transformation from a financial power to a financial power.
In recent years, as more and more cities in China put forward the goal of building an international financial center, the construction of an international financial center in China is facing severe challenges. In my opinion, in the face of the challenges from foreign big cities, under the current level of economic development, it should be China's top priority to ensure that Shanghai will be built into an international financial center and put it in a more important position. This is also an effective strategic choice to cope with the competitive pressure of foreign big cities. If many cities rush headlong into action and build their own international financial centers, it will not only dilute limited resources, but also lead to repeated construction and waste of resources, and will weaken the competitiveness of domestic cities and neighboring countries in competing for international financial centers.
The development trend of modern financial industry is centralization, and the construction of financial center is exclusive. Anyone with a little financial knowledge will understand that it is impossible for any country to establish multiple financial centers with international influence. Even economic powers such as the United States, Japan and Britain have only one or two international financial centers, despite the large number of financial institutions and huge financial aggregates. There are many developed countries and regions in the world, but only a dozen recognized financial centers have real international influence, such as London, new york, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Singapore and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Although China is an economic power, it is not yet an economic power, but a developing country with a per capita GDP ranking outside 100. Compared with developed countries, there are fewer types of financial institutions in China, the number of institutions and the total amount of finance are still small, the division of labor and cooperation of various financial institutions are not perfect, and the financial market environment needs to be improved. In particular, Hong Kong has returned as one of the three largest financial centers in the world, and its status as an international financial center must be maintained. At the same time, the central government decided to rebuild an international financial center in Shanghai. How can Chinese mainland build one or two international financial centers with international influence?
Building an international financial center is a major strategic decision of a country and a kind of government behavior, which cannot be separated from the reasonable planning, recognition and support of the government. Foreign experience shows that the government's "laissez-faire" policy in the initial stage of the formation of an international financial center was gradually abandoned in the mid-1970s. The rise of several major international financial centers in the world today is the result of the joint promotion of government forces and market forces. China's market economy is not developed enough, and the private financial capital is still very weak, so the government's strong support is even more important. It is necessary for the relevant government departments to set up specialized research institutions facing the whole country to conduct extensive and in-depth research on how to learn from the successful experience of foreign modern international financial centers and how to give full play to the power of national integration of resources to build an international financial center with China characteristics, so as to make suggestions for the relevant government departments to scientifically plan and formulate correct development strategies.
Since many big cities in China are planning to establish domestic regional or national or even international financial centers, the relevant government departments should not delay for a long time, but should formulate practical implementation plans and steps as soon as possible. In this way, we can not only scientifically and reasonably plan the layout of building a financial center in China, but also help to promote the progress of this work.