[Pan Gongsheng: Steadily Advancing High-Level Opening of the Financial Sector] Odaily Planet Daily News - On March 22, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated at the China Development Forum 2026 Annual Meeting that China will steadily advance the high-level opening of its financial sector. Efforts will be made to deepen interconnectivity in financial markets, cross-border integration of payment systems, and facilitate more investors to invest in China's financial markets. Both China's stock market and bond market rank second globally in terms of scale, with continuous improvements in market depth, resilience, and liquidity. As of the end of 2025, foreign institutions and individuals held over 10 trillion yuan worth of domestic stocks, bonds, deposits, loans, and other RMB financial assets. Foreign investors are welcome to participate in and invest in China's financial markets. In recent years, the internationalization of the RMB has made positive progress, providing more diversified currency options for domestic and foreign entities. Currently, RMB financing costs are relatively low. In 2025, governments of multiple countries, international development institutions, financial organizations, and large enterprises issued over 170 billion yuan worth of Panda Bonds, with the scale of offshore RMB bonds issued in Hong Kong being even larger. Efforts will continue to improve institutional arrangements and financial infrastructure for cross-border use of the RMB. Diversified monetary and financial cooperation will be carried out to promote the development of the offshore RMB market, facilitating cross-border trade and investment activities. (People's Bank of China)