Characteristic Development Leads China to A Leading Country in Finance
On October 30-31，2023，the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee convened the central financial work conference following the institutional restructuring of both the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in 2023. This conference laid out fundamental principles and action guidelines for China’s future high-quality financial development.
Key Contents of the Central Financial Work Conference
The world is currently experiencing unprecedented changes，and China is also undergoing profound changes and is striving to build itself into a modern socialist country that excels in every respect. In alignment with this vision，the CPC Central Committee convened its first central financial work conference after the institutional restructuring in 2023 on October 30-31. The conference held a defining moment when it set a goal of turning China into a leading country in finance for the first time，which required unswerving support for financial the development with Chinese characteristics. This conference had four key features compared to previous ones.
Firstly，it introduced the goal of accelerating the construction of a leading country in finance for the first time，which is an indispensable prerequisite for China's modernization and a fundamental guarantee for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The CPC Central Committee outlined in the conference the focus on enhancing the construction of a leading country in finance，emphasizing high-quality financial development，financial supply-side structural reform，and the significant contribution of building a strong nation and achieving national rejuvenation through high-quality financial development.
Secondly，the conference emphasizes the imperative to uphold the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee over financial work. Effective leadership is essential for the success of any undertaking. By reinforcing the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee in financial affairs，we ensure the success of these initiatives. The Central Financial Commission，as a fundamental measure to strengthen this leadership，will provide a more robust and systematic guarantee for strategic planning，overall coordination，progress monitoring，and the supervision and implementation of crucial tasks related to financial stability and growth.
Additionally，there is a crucial need to focus on characteristic development. The path of financial development with Chinese characteristics and the modern financial system with Chinese characteristics manifest in four main aspects. First，upholding and strengthening the comprehensive leadership of the CPC over financial work. Secondly，highlighting political and people-centered features in finance. Thirdly，paying attention to innovation in practice，theory，and institution. Fourthly，deeply integrating fine traditional Chinese culture. This has put forward higher requirements for the development of the monetary and financial environment，modern financial institutions and market systems，and high-level financial opening-up.
Lastly，the financial sector faces interrelated problems and contradictions that require better regulatory capacity. The conference highlighted that these issues remain highly prominent，and the financial system must improve its political position to fundamentally address them. In particular，the financial system needs to enhance its regulatory capacity and level while strengthening financial supervision to improve its effectiveness. To achieve this，improving the financial supervision system becomes a foundational task. Firstly，ensuring the full coverage of financial supervision to regulate all financial activities. Secondly，reinforcing the new paradigm of financial supervision，covering institutional supervision，behavioral supervision，functional supervision，and continuous supervision to eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots. Thirdly，deploying financial supervision in key areas to address risks in small and medium-sized financial institutions，prevent and resolve local government debt risks，and establish a new development model for the real estate market. Fourthly，preventing cross-regional，cross-market，and cross-border risks and effectively managing internal and external risk convergence.
Optimize Internal and External Interaction to Pursue Opening-Up and Security
The conference emphasized the importance of effectively managing cross-regional，cross-market，and cross-border risk convergence，raising the bar for comprehensive planning regarding high-level financial opening-up，financial stability，and financial security. In an open financial environment，the potential for systemic financial risks and challenges to financial security arises from the synchronized movements of domestic and international markets and the interdependence of foreign exchange，bond，and s