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Friday, April 13, 2018, 21:57
Beijing, Macao seek to jointly develop green finance
By Lin Wenjie
Friday, April 13, 2018, 21:57 By Lin Wenjie

MACAO – Beijing municipality plans to link up with the Macao Special Administrative Region to jointly develop green finance to attract more financial sector players into sustainable development investment, a deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Financial Work says.

Zhang Youlin told a sub-forum at Friday’s Macao International Environmental Cooperation Forum and Exhibition that the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Financial Work will promote green financial development together with the Monetary Authority of Macao; the two cities plan to strengthen cooperation in four areas.

“The first is to jointly explore a green financial development model and establish a communication and coordination mechanism for Beijing-Macao green finance development,” explained Zhang.

“We will work together to strengthen green financial infrastructure, establish a green financial development mechanism for the transformation and upgrading of service industries, and cooperate in the prevention of green financial risks,” added Zhang.

The second aspect is to create a platform for information sharing in relation to green project financing. This is so the connection between financial institutions in Beijing and Macao can be enhanced to achieve mutual benefits.

The third is to stimulate green investment under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement framework. This means encouraging private capital from Macao to participate in establishing green funds in Beijing through proper channels and supporting the establishment of green funds in the private sector in both cities.

Last but not least, to establish a platform for talent exchange to enhance green finance work.

Statistics show that the Chinese mainland requires 4 trillion yuan ($636 billion) in green investments annually to confront national environmental challenges. These range from air and water pollution to land contamination.

The country’s fiscal budget can only finance less than 15 percent of green investment; however, this creates an urgent need for the private sector to be involved in green finance, according to Ma Jun, chairman of Green Finance Committee of the China Society for Finance and Banking.

He discussed three ways to increase green investment. The first is to enhance green investment returns to attract private sector investors; the second, reduce returns on polluting investment and the third, increase investor or consumer preference for green assets and products.

Thanks to the efforts by Beijing municipality to support green finance, the green sector in the capital city enjoys growing credit.

Beijing’s green credit increased 9.47 percent year on year last year; 247.5 billion yuan was raised through green bonds, of which 32.97 billion yuan was raised by non-financial companies.

cherrylin@chinadailyhk.com

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