In October 2023, the second conference of the Global Economic Development and Security Forum of Boao Forum for Asia was held in Changsha, Hunan Province, under the theme of ” Global Development, Shared Security “. Participating dignitaries and experts believed that the current international situation is full of instability and uncertainty, and that the world needs closer and friendlier cooperation.
During the conference, the Boao Forum for Asia Research Institute released a report entitled ” Tidal View from Boao: Building Belt and Road in the Past Decade “. The report is divided into three parts, namely “Voice of Boao“, “Experts’ View“ and “BFA Showcases”, showing the positive evaluation of dignitaries from different countries on the Belt and Road Initiative during the previous BFA Annual Meeting, as well as the achievement of participating in the Belt and Road construction, and showcased the research and suggestions of many well-known experts and scholars on the Belt and Road construction.
The report points out that the Belt and Road Initiative has made a positive contribution to promoting global multilateral cooperation and governance. The joint construction of the Belt and Road has injected positive energy into peace and development of the world, and is a vital global public good for all countries to unite and cooperate.
China Innovation Finance Institute undertook the research work of the sub-report “International Financial Centres and The ESG Investment“, and Mr. Calvin Chenggang FU, Chairman of the CIFI, attended the forum and introduced the core content on behalf of the research team.
“This sub-report combines the ESG investment ecosystem and ESG investment products, and selects representative international financial centres in the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha), Europe (Luxembourg, Frankfurt), and Asia (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore) that are key partners in building the Belt and Road. It presents the practical experiences and current developments of different international financial centres in adapting to globalization and implementing ESG investment principles. The ESG investment and market ecosystem of the European international financial centres reflect a relatively high level in various aspects such as institutional design, market supervision, product service innovation, scale and quality. The ESG strategies and development of Middle Eastern international financial centres match its demands for concentrated sovereign wealth, urgent mission of economic transformation, and priority on regional influence goals. Asian international financial centres, especially Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore, are targeting services to their domestic and regional markets.
ESG investment in international financial centres along the Belt and Road will require even more mutual articulation and interaction in the future, especially coordination and cooperation with emerging markets such as China at multiple levels. At the level of institutional connectivity, supervisory and policy authorities of various international financial centres need to strengthen mutual learning and interaction in information sharing, action coordination, and multilateral cooperation, to understand each other’s current development status and challenges affecting action cooperation, and to seek consensus and solutions. At the level of market connectivity, regulatory and policy authorities of various international financial centres should continue to expand market-led connectivity efforts, and further promote product innovation in capital, credit, money and commodity markets around ESG and sustainable finance. At the practical level of cross-border investment and financing, the various international financial centres should promote product and service innovation based on the existing financial market structure, continue to create a friendly and high-level business environment for sustainable finance and ESG investment. At the same time, the centres should continue to improve the level of risk control, data compliance, anti-money laundering supervision, tax administration, and promote cross-international financial centres’ regulatory cooperation, so as to provide comprehensive safety and security for cross-border investment and financing. “
