Chongqing - Chongqing held the 6th Jiangbeizui New Financial Conference on December 28, bringing together experts including UNDP China Special Advisor Ma Weihua and economist Justin Yifu Lin to discuss how finance can support digital, green and intelligent industrial upgrading and the development of new growth drivers.
Chongqing convened the 6th Jiangbeizui New Financial Conference on December 28. (Photo/Chongqing Liangjiang New Area)
The conference featured the unveiling of the Jiangbeizui Financial Service Base for the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a platform intended to support financing and financial services linked to the corridor's trade and logistics networks.
Chongqing's total financial assets exceed 9.5 trillion yuan (about 1.35 trillion U.S. dollars), with RMB and foreign-currency deposits and loans at 6.4 trillion yuan and 5.9 trillion yuan, and more than 1,800 financial institutions, according to Luo Lin, a member of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee.
Luo said financial-sector value added exceeded 180 billion yuan in the first three quarters, up 6.6%. He also pointed to new national policy momentum: "This Thursday, the People's Bank of China, the national financial regulator, and eight ministries jointly issued opinions on financial support to accelerate the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor," adding that it clearly supports Chongqing in establishing a corridor financial service center and exploring a dedicated corridor fund.
The corridor, widely described by Chinese policymakers as a multimodal route integrating rail, road, and sea links, is designed to connect western China's inland supply chains with Southeast Asia and global shipping lanes, and its operational hub centered on Chongqing.
Justin Yifu Lin, dean of Peking University's Institute of New Structural Economics, said western China's financial development should use latecomer advantages, arguing that emerging technologies such as big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence allow a later-built financial center to adopt the latest technology directly at a lower adjustment cost than earlier hubs. He also emphasized that finance serves the real economy, and said high-quality financial-center development should support the upgrading of the industrial system.
Justin Yifu Lin delivers a keynote speech at the 6th Jiangbeizui New Financial Conference in Chongqing. (Photo/Chongqing Liangjiang New Area)
A key concept Lin addressed was new quality productive forces. Lin said the term should not be narrowly understood as only new industries; he described it as including digital, intelligent, and green upgrading of traditional industries, as well as developing new industries, new models, and new drivers according to local conditions.
Lin highlighted recent governance changes involving Liangjiang New Area, calling them a major strategic decision that would bring new opportunities. He noted that Liangjiang is China's third national-level development zone, following Shanghai's Pudong New Area and Tianjin's Binhai New Area, and the first such zone established in inland China, a status that gives it a distinctive role in supporting national strategies and regional development.
UNDP China Special Advisor, Ma Weihua, former China Merchants Bank president, said green finance should be a major component of building Western Financial Center and argued it can guide resources toward low-carbon industries.
Ma proposed that Liangjiang New Area could pilot first the creation of digital, end-to-end corporate carbon accounts that help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) measure emissions and access financing. He noted that China's green finance has expanded rapidly, citing the central bank's third-quarter data showing green loans exceeding 43 trillion yuan, up nearly 17.5% from the beginning of the year, and domestic green bonds with cumulative issuance approaching 5 trillion yuan.
Ma also cited the expansion of China's national carbon market: after adding industries such as steel, cement, and non-ferrous metals, the system now covers about 3,500 regulated companies, with total allowances reaching around 8 billion tonnes, which he said represents roughly 60% of China's emissions. For SMEs, he emphasized digital tools that can generate carbon ratings in 5-10 minutes, allowing banks to price loans based on a firm's carbon performance.