Letter from the Editor
As China's last World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments in financial services draw near, the focus of this CBR special issue is the country's financial sector. In Letter from Beijing, Robert Poole, vice president of China Operations for the US-China Business Council, publisher of the CBR, describes the mood in Beijing's financial services community and notes that although China's financial sector has come a long way since the country joined the WTO in 2001, it still has a long way to go to satisfy foreign investors.
Stephen Thomas and Chen Ji follow with an overview of China's bank reforms to date, while Richard Daniel Ewing takes stock of China's life insurance industry. Victor Shih and Louie Huang illuminate the nonperforming loan (NPL) market, revealing due diligence strategies and what it takes to turn a profit on NPLs. Finally, David Strongin looks at the securities sector and offers suggestions on how China can improve it.
Running through all of these articles is a common theme: Although opening China's financial sector fully to foreign companies is obviously in those firms' interest, ultimately China will also benefit greatly from such changes. Not only will opening the sector—in conjunction with other reforms—eventually make the banks stronger, but it will also allow capital, most of which is now stuck in low-interest bank accounts, to be allocated more efficiently. When capital can flow to where it is needed most, Chinese investors, and the economy as a whole, will see higher returns.
After seven years working on the CBR, including five years as associate editor, this issue is my first as editor. I am grateful to Catherine Gelb, my predecessor, for her guidance over the years and hope to maintain the high standards she has set for the magazine. In this endeavor, I will, of course, be aided by the magazine's dedicated staff—Associate Editor Paula M. Miller, Assistant Editor Victorien Wu, Business Manager Jesse Marth, and Administrative Assistant Marcia Morrow. Starting in May, we welcome new Assistant Editor Damien Ma to our team. I look forward to working with this team for many issues to come to bring our readers the in-depth, thoughtful articles they expect from the CBR.
— Virginia Hulme
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