At present, the financial industry in Asian countries or regions is dominated by local large-scale banking systems, and the capital markets in various regions are still very scattered. In this case, who will win in the end?
"It depends on the choice of multinational companies." Professor Pan Yingli from Antai School of Management, Shanghai Jiaotong University, said in an interview that which region can become the financial center of Asia and then manage funds for Asia depends on the choice of multinational companies. Generally, where multinational companies set their headquarters, which region will become a financial center. Professor Pan Yingli analyzed that there are several factors that determine the choice of multinational enterprises: First, there should be huge financial demand in the region. From this point of view, Shanghai and South Korea are very dominant. Backed by the strong China market, South Korea has developed very rapidly in recent years. Second, it is the problem of business cost, that is, the price of labor and the supply of talents. Although developing countries have the advantage of low labor costs, multinational companies often have to consider settlement costs when moving, such as the supply of talents in the local market and some movable and real estate issues of the company, so some established financial centers still have advantages. In addition, there are many uncertainties about who will become the new financial center. Although it looks good now, the long-term development is uncertain, and multinational companies have to bear certain risks. Therefore, Professor Pan Yingli believes that Asian financial centers will not change much in the short term. The old financial centers have certain stability, and it will take time for the new financial centers to develop.
China and Hongkong were once considered as the financial centers of Asia.
As the leader of Asian economy, Hong Kong has rich experience, advanced financial transaction system and the advantage of being a pioneer. On June 28th, 2005, Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said during his visit to new york, USA that Hong Kong has become a dynamic turbine in international finance, commerce and trade. Through CEPA and Pan-Pearl River Delta cooperation agreement, Hong Kong has become the best platform for doing business with the booming mainland of China, which has a strong radiation effect on the whole Asia-Pacific region.
From a small entrepot with an area of only 1 100 square kilometers to the freest economic system in the world today and an important international financial, shipping and commercial center, Hong Kong has created an economic miracle that has amazed the world through the efforts of several generations. Although after the Asian financial crisis, Hong Kong's economic competitiveness was weakened, and it was once in a downturn, housing prices and stock prices shrank sharply, and the financial system was tested. At the beginning of 2003, Tung Chee-hwa admitted in a letter to Hong Kong: "Now is the most severe time for Hong Kong's economy, and Hong Kong's predicament has never been seen in the past few decades." However, in the recent global competitiveness report in 2005, Hong Kong jumped from the sixth place last year to the second place in the global competitiveness ranking, reappearing a huge competitive advantage.
2005- 12-65438+ Indonesian central bank governor Su Deliang Djiwandono once commented on Shanghai: "In the past, we attached great importance to Hong Kong's position in the international financial market, and we will pay more attention to Shanghai in the future." He believes that despite the hard process, Shanghai will be able to build an international financial center in the future from 10 to 15.
History also proves that Shanghai has the possibility of becoming a financial center. In 1930s, Shanghai was already the financial center of the Far East and had the reputation of "Paris of the East". Now, the government of China is more determined to build Shanghai into an international financial center. With the continuous improvement of the financial system, Shanghai's financial market's agglomeration ability and radiation ability have been further enhanced.
At present, Shanghai Stock Exchange has become the third largest stock exchange in Asia after Tokyo and Hong Kong. As the forefront city of China's economic development, Shanghai has a good investment environment, high-quality human resources and vast hinterland support. More and more multinational banks, insurance, finance and high-tech companies have set up Asia-Pacific headquarters, factories and R&D centers in mainland China. This has enhanced Shanghai's competitive strength.
However, Professor Pan Yingli also said that there are some obstacles that must be overcome in the development of Shanghai's financial market. As the mainland stock market is in the stage of reform, the timetable for the opening of capital projects has not yet been determined, which makes the development of the mainland capital market face great difficulties, and various financial products and derivatives cannot be launched in time, which has slowed down the pace of Shanghai's competition for Asian financial centers to some extent.
Professor Pan Yingli believes that Hong Kong and Shanghai can completely complement each other in their functions. She believes that Shanghai mainly values the huge domestic market, while Hong Kong's international status is more valued. This difference in functional orientation avoids the confrontation between Shanghai and Hong Kong. In the future, Hong Kong and Shanghai can fully complement each other and achieve a win-win situation for both places. At the same time, she thinks that Singapore's market positioning is similar to that of Hong Kong, so now Hong Kong's main competitor should be Singapore.
Yang Di, a postdoctoral fellow in finance at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, believes that government support is also very important if a region wants to develop into a financial center. In this regard, the Korean government is exemplary.
2005- 12- 19 22:50 reply to the third floor of 0 fans in Block C. In recent years, South Korea has developed very rapidly. As early as 2002, the Korean government put forward the idea of becoming an Asian financial center, and in February 2003, it made a strategic plan, formulated a detailed timetable and pointed out the main tasks. Analysts pointed out that South Korea has some unique advantages that other rival countries cannot match. For example, South Korea has a more open and higher-level business environment and a huge financial market. However, there are also different views. Yang Di said that there are still many problems in the Korean market, such as labor shortage, high taxes and lack of transparency, which have seriously hindered the operation of the market and companies. If South Korea can't remove the restrictions and constraints of the legal system and social system on the market, South Korea's road to becoming an Asian financial center can only drift away.
There is no doubt that Tokyo has become one of the international financial centers. However, in recent years, Tokyo's status as an international financial center is facing more and more severe challenges due to the continuous economic downturn in Japan and fierce competition in the international financial market. Recently, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as a symbol of Tokyo's international financial center, has also shown signs of decline.
Some insiders believe that the decline of Zhengdong has not only seriously affected Tokyo's status as an international financial center, but will even further shake the foundation of Tokyo as an Asian financial center. Therefore, emerging Asian financial markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and South Korea are likely to catch up with or even surpass Tokyo's financial markets in the near future.
So, who will become the financial center of Asia?
Huang Kai, a professor of economics at Southeast University, believes that there are likely to be multiple financial centers in Asia in the future, and with the changing importance, financial centers will also shift. Similarly, Du, general manager of Prudential Life Insurance, believes that there will not be only one financial center in Asia in the future. It seems to many people in the industry that there may be more than one financial center in Asia in the future.