Wednesday, 25 October 2017

NSW and Chinese finance leaders came face to face in Sydney yesterday to discuss joint strategies to grow the sector.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and Treasurer Jonathan O’Dea said the 5th Shanghai-Sydney Financial Services Symposium strengthened financial relations between the two cities.

"Today's symposium helped pave the next steps in building connections between Sydney and Shanghai, both leading financial centres in their own right.

"The NSW Government greatly values the partnership we have built with the Shanghai Municipal Government since our 2008 Friendship Cooperation agreement, leading to a 2010 memorandum of understanding on financial services.

"The symposium was an initiative under the MoU, forming part of NSW’s wider trade and investment engagement with China.

“It brought together business and government representatives from Sydney and Shanghai to explore efforts to maximise opportunities and overcome challenges to our finance sectors.

"This helped NSW build further connections with Shanghai's financial services community and discuss opportunities for partnerships and joint ventures, plus showcase NSW’s competitive strengths in asset and funds management,” Mr O’Dea said.

The symposium involved a targeted group of business executives and government representatives from both NSW and Shanghai.

Mr Li Jun, Deputy Director-General of the Shanghai Municipal Financial Services Office led the Shanghai delegation.

Focusing on innovation in the financial services sector, the symposium featured a session on fintech and payment systems and a panel on wealth management.

Chinese financial services companies including UnionPay and China PnR along with NSW organisations discussed the impact of technology on the financial services sector and investment and funding in the space.