China issues guideline to finance intl. sci-tech innovation centers

China on Monday issued a guideline to boost financial support for building international science and technology centers in Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region), Shanghai (the Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The guideline, released by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) along with ten other departments, aims to build a financial service system that better matches the core functions and international positioning of the three innovation hubs.

By 2030, the country aims to establish a sound full-chain financial service system for technological innovation, achieve a "notable increase" in the proportion of direct financing, and basically form a pattern of integrated financial services in the three regions, according to the guideline.

Among the specific measures, the guideline calls for improving foreign exchange business facilitation policies for qualified foreign limited partners (QFLP), a move that is expected to facilitate overseas institutions' equity investment in China.

It also vows to make cross-border fund management simpler for multinational tech companies and for Chinese firms funding their overseas R&D centers.

The document sets out differentiated priorities for each region.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will focus on original innovation and coordinated regional innovation, with stronger financial support for major science and technology infrastructure.

The Yangtze River Delta will leverage its industrial cluster advantages to build a technology finance ecosystem featuring multi-party participation and shared benefits.

The GBA will develop an open technology finance system, with an emphasis on deepening high-level financial interaction and regulatory alignment among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

The guideline also stresses building risk prevention and control mechanisms to firmly guard against systemic financial risks.

Speaking at the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2026 in Beijing on Monday, PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng said that building the three international sci-tech innovation centers is a major strategy of the central authorities.

Pan highlighted that the central bank will push for greater pilot efforts in the three regions in areas such as relending, the bond market's "sci-tech board" and cross-border investment and financing.

The country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) called for supporting the initiative of making Beijing, Shanghai, and the GBA international centers for science and technology innovation, a goal that has guided progress over the past five years.