Focus on China Development Forum 2026 Annual Conference

Focus on the China Development High-Level Forum 2026 Annual Conference

Zhu Hexin, Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange: Deepening High-Level Institutional Opening in the Foreign Exchange Sector

Securities Times Reporter He Jueyuan

On March 23, Zhu Hexin, Vice Governor of the People’s Bank of China and Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, attended the China Development High-Level Forum 2026 Annual Conference and delivered a keynote speech on “Advancing Higher-Level Opening of China’s Economy and Foreign Exchange Management.” Zhu Hexin stated that, facing the “14th Five-Year Plan,” the State Administration of Foreign Exchange will further promote high-level institutional opening in the foreign exchange sector, adhering to open-mindedness, service orientation, and security awareness.

Zhu Hexin pointed out that China’s opening-up continues to reach new heights, characterized by broader fields, stronger momentum, and improved structure. In terms of opening fields, from primarily focusing on merchandise trade to broader international economic and trade cooperation. Based on trade in goods and services, China and other countries also hold assets and share development benefits, forming more diverse and resilient economic and trade relationships.

Regarding opening momentum, from policy-driven benefits to shared construction and mutual benefits among various entities. Private enterprises remain China’s largest foreign trade operators, while foreign-invested companies share China’s manufacturing competitive advantages, supporting their global production and sales networks. Capital inflows under China’s trade are mainly managed independently by enterprises, banks, and others through foreign direct investment, securities investment, and other forms, creating a diversified and globally distributed new pattern.

Zhu Hexin emphasized that China is an important destination for global multinational corporations’ foreign investment strategies, with foreign direct investment returns consistently ranking among the top in major economies. In recent years, foreign public funds, private equity institutions, and sovereign wealth funds have increased their presence in China, with a growing willingness to allocate RMB assets.

On the structural aspect of opening-up, from scale growth to more coordinated import-export and two-way investment cooperation. China has always adhered to expanding domestic demand as a strategic foundation, actively expanding imports in recent years to promote balanced development of imports and exports. China actively expands space for two-way investment cooperation, remaining a fertile ground for foreign investment, and under the high-quality Belt and Road Initiative, foreign investment continues to develop healthily, steadily, and orderly.

Zhu Hexin stated that, looking toward the “14th Five-Year Plan,” the State Administration of Foreign Exchange will better coordinate development and security, deepen high-level institutional opening in the foreign exchange sector, and better serve the new pattern of win-win cooperation. The agency will uphold open-mindedness, enhance the synergy and alignment of capital account opening with economic and financial reforms and the internationalization of the RMB. For already open projects, efforts will be made to clarify management frameworks, unify rules, streamline procedures, and stabilize expectations; for fields with conditions, the pace and intensity of opening will be managed well to better serve technological innovation, the real economy, and long-term capital needs.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange will adhere to a service-oriented approach, making legitimate and compliant foreign exchange receipts and payments more convenient and efficient. Guided by “the more honest, the more convenient; compliant entities take the lead,” it will continuously improve the efficiency of foreign exchange for enterprise trade, cross-border investment and financing facilitation, and banks’ foreign exchange business capabilities.

It will also maintain a security-focused mindset, safeguarding bottom lines and enhancing resilience amid opening-up. Further improvements will be made to statistical monitoring, macroprudential management, on- and off-site supervision, expectation guidance, and policy evaluation, actively participating in international financial governance, and enhancing regulatory capacity and risk prevention under open conditions.

Liu Lihong, Director of the National Data Bureau: AI Industry to Surpass 10 Trillion Yuan by the End of the 14th Five-Year Plan

Securities Times Reporter He Jueyuan

On March 23, Liu Lihong, Member of the Party Leadership Group of the National Development and Reform Commission and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the National Data Bureau, delivered a speech at the “Artificial Intelligence Industry Application” session of the China Development High-Level Forum 2026. He stated that driven by technological innovation and commercial application, the AI industry continues to grow. It is expected that by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, China’s AI-related industry scale will exceed 10 trillion yuan, opening up broader growth prospects.

Liu Lihong pointed out that from the success of DeepSeek’s open-source model last Spring Festival, to the stunning appearance of robots on the Spring Festival Gala, to the global popularity of Seedance 2.0 this year, and the recent craze for “lobster farming” with OpenClaw—each hotspot reflects a new trend in AI development: from dialogue to decision-making and execution, intelligent agents are driving explosive growth in large model applications in China.

“Represented by OpenClaw, intelligent agent applications achieve autonomous task planning and continuous execution through deep integration of large models with external tools, marking a new form of large model deployment that has rapidly captured global markets, while also bringing cybersecurity and data security risks,” Liu said.

Liu emphasized that only by promoting deep integration of AI with various industries can technological potential be transformed into developmental momentum. China, as the only country in the world with all industrial categories, boasts abundant data resources, a complete industrial system, and vast market space. Implementing the “AI +” initiative will enable AI technology to truly embed into industries and empower thousands of sectors.

Currently, new business logic based on token (word unit) billing is accelerating. Liu noted that at the beginning of 2024, China’s daily token call volume was 100 billion; by the end of 2025, it surged to 100 trillion; and in March this year, it exceeded 140 trillion, a more than thousandfold increase in two years. Since the end of January this year, some model companies have set records with 20-day revenues surpassing their total 2025 income. A new value system centered on token calls, distribution, and settlement is rapidly evolving and becoming an important monetization path for the AI industry.

Liu also pointed out that the sharp increase in China’s daily token calls indicates that, with the deepening reform of data element marketization, a high-quality data supply system for AI is taking shape. A virtuous cycle of “data supply—value release” has begun to emerge.

Currently, security and compliance are focal points of AI governance. Liu said that the National Data Bureau is establishing and improving data property rights systems, providing clear rights and responsibilities for data supply, circulation, and use; and promoting integrated security governance solutions covering data, technology, and networks to support large-scale AI applications.

The rapid iteration and large-scale deployment of AI technology are also spawning many new tracks in the data field. Against this backdrop, emerging sectors such as high-quality dataset construction, refined data annotation, and intelligent data analysis platforms are thriving. Liu introduced that in 2026, the National Data Bureau will designate the year’s data work as the “Year of Data Value Release,” focusing on data empowerment for AI innovation, implementing six major actions, and striving to develop high-quality datasets that meet AI readiness, effectively train advanced models or agents, and solve industry-specific problems.

Global Risks “Wave Back” Cannot Halt the Trend of Cooperation: How Can Financial Systems Be More Resilient?

Securities Times Reporters Qin Yanling and He Jueyuan

During the China Development High-Level Forum 2026, international monetary order drew widespread attention. As the existing single-center dominance shifts toward a more balanced multi-center pattern, ensuring financial security to enhance economic resilience remains a key concern for participants.

“Currently, the US dollar’s dominant position in the international monetary system remains very stable,” said Zhu Min, former Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, in an interview. However, over the long term, the US share of the global economy has decreased from about 40% to around 23-24%, and its share of global trade has fallen from about 28% to 14-15%.

Zhu Min believes the real question is whether the US economy can sustain its ability to support the dollar-led international monetary system. He also discussed the reasons for the dollar’s decoupling from gold in the 1970s—“At that time, Japan and Germany’s economic growth was too strong, and the US’s share of the global economy was shrinking.”

He argued that fundamentally, the world needs a more balanced monetary structure, which would help stabilize the global financial system and improve global financial governance.

Despite uncertainties in the current international financial environment, the wave of recovery in the real economy continues. “Uncertainty does not eliminate opportunities; it only shifts where they are,” said Noel Quinn, CEO of HSBC. “The global economic landscape is being reshaped—companies are strengthening supply chains, countries are investing in new drivers of growth, and businesses are rethinking their competitive advantages.” He noted that the expanding domestic markets in Asian countries, rapid technological innovation, and the ongoing restructuring of industries are new engines of global growth, with China remaining a core force in the next phase.

Realizing these growth potentials still depends on capital. “The world has re-priced risks, and in this context, the real economy needs more capital,” said Jim Zelt, President of Apollo Global Management. Whether in energy transition, power, utilities, or digital infrastructure, global industrial revival is accelerating. Especially in Asia-Pacific and other regions, massive capital demands urgently require flexible, long-term financing from financial markets.

Supporting the real economy with capital requires a resilient financial system. “It is necessary to enhance the resilience of capital markets and consolidate financial security,” said Chen Liang, Chairman of China International Capital Corporation. In the short term, this can include building multi-layered support systems, strengthening the resilience of banks and financial institutions, and providing targeted financial support to enterprises. Additionally, developing diversified reserve structures, advancing domestic payment and settlement systems, and establishing closer monetary cooperation with neighboring countries are also key.

Long-term, multi-layered capital markets are crucial for preventing financial sanctions risks. Chen Liang suggested cultivating patient capital and promoting long-term funds to improve the capital market ecosystem and enhance allocation efficiency, thereby strengthening the resilience of the financial system to better support the real economy against shocks.

Market confidence is vital in advancing capital market development. “Erosion of long-term confidence is one of the most underestimated risks today,” warned J. Michael Zelt, CEO of UBS. “Once confidence is lost, it takes years to rebuild.” Therefore, continuous investment during volatile periods, resisting short-termism, and maintaining openness are essential.

Liu Jun, President of ICBC, also emphasized the need to reshape a credible international cooperation system in response to rapidly evolving risks.

“We call this ‘Globalization 2.0’—working together to address global issues like climate change and AI governance, injecting certainty into a changing world, reducing risk premiums, and achieving win-win outcomes,” Liu said. He noted that traditional passive financial services can no longer meet the new demands brought by global restructuring and rising economic uncertainties. Financial institutions need to deeply integrate full lifecycle support and entire industry chain services to build systematic financial support frameworks for the real economy. This transformation will turn financial institutions into comprehensive providers of capital, information, and efficiency, buffering and resolving risks at individual nodes within a multi-dimensional network.