Conference Report
CONFERENCE REPORT
(by Dongwei SU)
The international conference "China: Towards A Modern Financial
System" was held in Friendship Hotel, Beijing, China on August 23-24,
1996. And it had been a resounding success.
Sponsored by the Committee on Economics Education and Exchange
with the U.S., Institute of Finance and Banking of People's Bank of China,
the Chinese Finance Association and other institutions, the conference had
attracted a lot of government policy-makers as well as academic
researchers from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden,
Japan, Canada and some major world organizations.
During the opening ceremony, the governor of People's Bank of
China, Dai Xianglong, explained the rationale behind the second decrease
of interest rate this year. He emphasized that the central bank's policy
towards tight money supply would be unchanged in the next several years.
Mr. Dai also expressed an optimistic view of the continuous growth in
China's foreign exchange reserve.
Dr. Peter Sullivan, vice president of the Asian Development Bank,
summarized the history and development of China's banking and financial
system and pointed out some remaining difficulties in deepening the
financial reform.
After the opening ceremony, several officials from the People's
Bank of China presented their reports on the development of China's
monetary policy and China's financial system reform. Professor Gregory
Chow of Princeton University gave an in-depth analysis on how well the
Chinese banking system functioned. Several scholars and practitioners
from China, U.S. and U.K. also discussed the central bank's monetary
interventions, the rules and regulations of China's stock markets, and the
roles of foreign insurance in China's market economy development.
During the second day, two concurrent sessions were held and
different views on a wide variety of issues ranging from the reform of
China's SOEs, the reform of monetary policies, structuring China's
financial capital, and the high savings and high inflation dilemma were
exchanged among the scholars. Professor Lawrence Lau gave a wonderful
luncheon presentation on whether there was a new Mexico in east Asia.
Professor Masahiko Aoki, Professor Ronald McKinnon and Professor Qian
Yinyi discussed the role of banks in developing and transitional economies
and the lessons China could learn from the recent Mexican financial crisis
and Japanese housing loan problems. Dr. Ramgopal Agarwala, World Bank's
chief official in its economic unit in resident mission in China, also
discussed the China's pension system reform. The conference ended with
the concluding remark of Dr. Qin Chichuan, director of the Research
Institute of Banking and Finance of the People's Bank of China.
The conference had been a great success. Major news media,
including CCTV, People's Daily, China Daily, China's Securities Daily
covered the conference. Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji also had an unusually
long meeting with Professor Gregory Chow, Professor Lawrence Lau and other
conference delegates in Zhong Nan Hai. They exchanged views on China's
economic reform, with an emphasis on banking and financial reform.
The following is the program for the conference:
Friday, August 23, 1996
Opening Ceremony
Chairperson:
Prof. Xie, HangSeng, Deputy Director, Institute of Finance and
Banking, PBOC
Opening Address:
Prof. Huang, Da, Chairman, Committee on Economics Education and
Exchange with the U.S., and President, China Society of
Finance
Mr. Dai, Xiangrong, Governor, PBOC
Dr. Sullivan, Peter, Vice President, Asian Development Bank
--------
Session I (joint session)
Chairpersons:
Prof. Xiong, Xingmei, Professor and Director, International
Economics Research Institute, Nankai University
Dr. Sun, X. Steve, University of Chicago
Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Xiao, Gang, Director, Planning and Financing Department, PBOC,
"Development of China's Monetary Policy"
Dr. Di, Weiping, Deputy Director, Foreign Financial Institute
Department, PBOC, "The Development of the Opening Policy
in China's Financial Sector"
Prof. Wang, Tong, Director, Institute For Economic Restructuring,
State Committee on Economic Reform, "Analysis of
Development of China's Financial Form"
---------
Session II (joint session)
Chairpersons:
Prof. McKinnon, Ronald, Stanford University
Prof. Wang, Chuanlun, People's University of China
Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Chen, Yaoxian, Vice Governor, PBOC, "Review and Perspective of
China's Financial System Reform"
Prof. Chow, Gregory, Princeton University, "How Well Does the
Chinese Banking System Function"
Dr. Hurd, G. David, Director, the Principle Financial Group,
"Roles of Foreign Insurance in Chinese Market Economic
Development"
----------
Session III (joint session)
Chairpersons:
Prof. Zhang, Weiying, CCER, Beijing University
Dr. Liu, Zheng, University of Minnesota
Keynote Speakers:
Prof. Cao, Fengqi, Associate Dean, Guang Hua School of Management,
Beijing University, "Relation Trading in the Mergers of
Listed Companies"
Prof. Gregory, Phillip E., De Montfort University, United Kingdoms,
"Offences in the Stock Markets in China: Causes and
Recommendations"
Prof. Liu, Zhenya, People's University of China, "An Optimal Band
for the Central Bank's Monetary Intervention: A Chinese Case
Study"
Dr. Su, Dongwei, The Ohio State University, "Information,
Regulation and Volatility in Chinese Stock Markets"
-----------
Saturday, August 24, 1996
Session IV (concurrent session)
Chairpersons:
Prof. Liu, Zhenya, People's University of China
Dr. Wu, Guojun, Stanford University
Keynote Speakers:
Prof. Li, Yang, Center for Finance and Banking Studies, Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, "Reform in Reserve Requirements
of Chinese Banking System"
Dr. Lin, Xiang, Stockholm University, Sweden, "Monetary Policy in
the Transition Period of China"
Dr. Lin, Zoey, U.S. Federal Reserve System, "Risk Management in
the U.S. and Chinese Financial Reform"
---------
Session IV (concurrent session)
Chairpersons:
Prof. Huang, Weiping, People's University of China
Dr. Sun, X. Steve, University of Chicago
Keynote Speakers:
Prof. Tian, Zhilong, Huazhong Institute of Science and Technology,
"China: Towards An Operational and Effective Corporate
Governance System"
Prof. Xu, Kuan, Dalhousie University, Canada, "Monetary Problems
in Transitional Economy"
----------
Session V (concurrent session)
Chairpersons:
Prof. Li, Yang, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Dr. Liu, Zheng, University of Minnesota
Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Hassan, Naim A., University of Birmingham, U.K., "Financial
Control of Chinese SOEs: Lessons from Selected European
Countries"
Prof. Che, Jiahua, University of Notre Dame, "An Organizational
Approach in Investment Finance in the Studies of Township-
village Enterprises"
Prof. Huang, Weiping, People's University of China, "Analysis of
High Savings Rate Under High Inflation Periods"
--------
Session V (concurrent session)
Chairpersons:
Dr. Zhu, Min, Bank of China
Dr. Li, Bo, Harvard University
Keynote Speakers:
Prof. Zhang, Weiying, CCER, Beijing University, "Financial
Structure and Cooperative Governance of China's SOEs"
Dr. Claessens, Stijn, World Bank, "Banking Reform in Transitional
Economies"
Prof. Yi, Gang, CCER, Beijing University, "Structure of China's
Financial Capital"
---------
Luncheon Keynote Speech:
Prof. Lau, Lawrence, Stanford University,
"Is There A New Mexico in East Asia?"
----------
Session VI (joint session)
Chairpersons:
Prof. Zhang, Weiying, CCER, Beijing University
Prof. Xu, Kuan, Dalhousie University, Canada
Keynote Speakers:
Prof. Aoki, Masahiko, Stanford University and President, Japanese
Economic Association, "Banking Crisis and the Role of Bank
in Developing and Transitional Economies"
Prof. McKinnon, Ronald, Stanford University, "Mexico and Chile
Crisis: Lessons for Chinese Reform"
Prof. Qian, Yingyi, Stanford University
Dr. Agarwala, Ramgopal, World Bank, "Chian's Pension System
Reform"
----------
Concluding Remarks:
Dr. Qin, Chichuan, Director, Research Institute of Banking and Finance,
PBOC