Upon the approval of the State Council, the Office of Financial Stability and Development Committee under the State Council (hereinafter referred to as the FSDC Office) recently issued Opinions of the Office of Financial Stability and Development Committee under the State Council on Establishing Local Coordination Mechanism (Jinrongweibanfa No.1 [2020]), which proposes a local coordination mechanism to be established under the FSDC Office in all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) to strengthen cooperation between central and local government institutions in financial regulation, risk resolution, information sharing and protection of consumers’ rights and interests.
Establishing the local coordination mechanism under the FSDC Office is an important move to implement the spirit of the National Financial Work Conference on strengthening financial cooperation between central and local government institutions. The local coordination mechanism under the FSDC Office will be based in provincial branches of the People’s Bank of China (PBC). Major chiefs of PBC provincial branches will be the conveners of the mechanism, while its members include major chiefs from the dispatched provincial institutions of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the State Foreign Exchange Administration (SAFE), major chiefs of provincial financial regulatory authorities and chiefs of provincial development and reform authorities as well as fiscal authorities. The mechanism, under the leadership of the FSDC Office, is set to provide guidance and coordination without changing the responsibility division of relevant government institutions or administrative power distribution between central and local institutions. Mainly through improving integrated planning and coordination, the mechanism pushes forward the implementation of relevant arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the FSDC, enhances coordinated financial regulation, facilitates regional financial reform, development and stability, promotes financial information sharing, and coordinates financial consumer protection and financial ecosystem development.
Next, the local coordination mechanism under the FSDC Office will base its work on actual conditions, continuously improve itself during practices, fully motivate both central and local government institutions, and create synergies in financial regulation, so as to better serve the real economy, guard against financial risks, and deepen financial reform. Currently, the governments at provincial levels are establishing consultation and coordination mechanisms for financial work of local governments, and performing the duties of financial regulation as well as prevention and resolution of local financial risks within their jurisdictions. The local coordination mechanism under the FSDC Office and the consultation and coordination mechanisms for financial work of local governments, on the basis of their respective responsibilities and priorities, will support each other, forge synergy and build a favorable financial environment in a collective manner.
