Financial firms need to go global

It goes without saying: Globalization of the Chinese financial industry is key to the globalization of China's enterprises. If China doesn't have a sound financial industry, there's no way its industries will expand overseas.

In the early 2000s, only Chinese commercial banks were making headway in their overseas expansion plans, but after 2009, overseas investments from throughout China began picking up.

Overseas direct investment (ODI) from China is that in 2007, ODI was $1.67 billion (1.17 billion euros). The figure reached $8.73 billion in 2009.

There are three main reasons for the sharp growth. The demand caused by ODI from nonfinancial industries. To meet the demand of nonfinancial enterprises, Chinese commercial banks and other financial institutions sped up outbound development.

Second, China Investment Corporation, in 2009, increased investments in the midst of the financial crisis. The total investment amount reportedly reached $6.54 billion in 2009.

Third, the financial crisis made some financial assets undervalued. Some financial institutions then sold their Asian assets selectively, which provided a great opportunity for Chinese financial institutions to swoop in on inexpensive prices and plan their global expansions.

Thus far, there have been losses and gains in China's overseas investments from its financial industry, which didn't take advantage of the crisis. Fortunately, the potential for overseas investments is still great. If the financial industry speeds up its plans for overseas investments, it would lay a solid foundation for China's improving global competitiveness.

As the Chinese financial industry transitions into globalization, various financial institutions need to apply for licenses to conduct commercial banking, asset management and private banking. But the more important task for Chinese financial institutions is to enhance their service capacity for Chinese enterprises overseas.

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