Tianjin's Binhai New Area will accelerate its financial reforms to make breakthroughs in major issues such as the financial system, said Dai Xianglong, mayor of Tianjin and former president of the People's Bank of China, or the central bank.

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Dai said at a municipal financial work conference Tuesday that Tianjin will pilot key reforms related to financial services and the capital market in its Binhai industrial area and he is confident that experiences gained here will be of great value to the entire country.

Tianjin will continue to widen its fundraising channels. Based on a successful pilot of the Bohai Industrial Fund, the municipal government will encourage to pilot the launch of more funds like a venture capital fund for people to start their own business, real estate investment trust and the trust of integrating funds to build the city into an issuing, managing, trading, training and researching center for China's industrial funds, he said.

Tianjin will widen the scope of financial institutions' businesses, allowing commercial banks to set up outlets in the city and offer securities, insurance and financial leasing services, and insurance group companies to set up branches developing their banking and asset management businesses.

The city will also integrate its local financial institutions to forge a diversified financial holding company to purchase stakes in banks, insurance companies and asset management firms, Dai added.

Tianjin will establish a complete financial services and innovation system, in which financial institutions coexist, be they Chinese and foreign-funded banks, investment banks, currency brokers, insurers and reinsurers, trust and investment companies as well as those offering new services such as Sino-German Bausparkasse, the first China-German mortgage savings bank in China, according to Dai.

More experiments will be made in reforming control of the foreign exchange at Binhai New Area after being approved by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to meet the rising and diversified demands of consumers, he said.

Last September, the forex watchdog approved Binhai New Area as a center for new foreign exchange reforms. The reforms include the loosening of controls over foreign exchange in capital accounts and exploring ways of making renminbi capital accounts convertible under certain circumstances and up to certain amounts.

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