By Dai Qi
Some experts made remarks at the recently held 2018 China Wealth Forum believed that there are plenty of opportunities in China for foreign enterprises.
Competition makes us go global
Toshiyasu Iiyama, executive chairman for Asia for ex-Japan and head of the China Committee at Nomura Holdings, Inc., said global competition brought about by Japan's financial reforms had driven Nomura forward. He called for more reforms and opening-up by the Chinese authorities in financial sector to encourage and promote competitions.
He said，back in the 1990s, the Japanese economy suffered from a sharp collapse of the economic bubble and lost years of development with a sluggish growth.
"The Japanese government wanted to vitalize the financial market, and it also faced great pressure from its friendly allies. So it decided to make some reforms, which featured free, transparent and also global aspects," said Toshiyasu Iiyama.
Enterprises from around the world had swarmed into Japan as a result of the policy changes, bringing about intense competition.
"At that time, the reform was not appreciated by local Japanese enterprises. We were even wondering why the government was so unkind to domestic banks," he said.
Today, however, decades have passed, and now those Japanese enterprises are more thankful rather than resentful about the decision made by the Japanese government.
"Foreign competitors brought many new financial products and technologies to Japan. People who worked in those companies also spread their fresh knowledge and technologies into the market," Toshiyasu Iiyama added.
What followed by those policy changes was the expansion of the entire financial market instead of bloody competition.
Founded in 1925, Nomura is a global securities company that has offices in 28 countries and regions.
However, the way to go global was not that smooth until the reforms carried out by the Japanese government back in the 1990s.
"We were not that successful in expanding overseas businesses until the alteration of government policies after which we made an acquisition of Lehman Brothers' businesses in Europe. So, no competition from around the world, no real globalization," Toshiyasu Iiyama said.
He saw plenty of opportunities in China and "we are looking forward to coming into the market," he said.
Qingdao could be a new trial zone
Qingdao, the city where the 2018 China Wealth Forum was held, was also a topic for experts.
William Purpura, chairman of the COMEX Governors Committee, said at the forum that he was expecting to see Qingdao City take a more important role in the futures market.
In 2014, the Chinese central government decided to set up a pilot zone on wealth management in Qingdao City, which means the city is becoming a pioneer in developing a path of that kind with Chinese characteristics.
"Since 2015, we have seen more regulations from the Chinese government on China's stock market as well as commodities futures. Foreign companies hope to have more access to the futures market, which I think could be a chance for Qingdao," he said.
Toshiyasu Iiyama, on the other hand, thinks that the city could make more efforts in diversifying its investment, which means to be more flexible in the foreign exchange market.
"This could be an attraction for foreign banks and individual investors, and I think the city may stand out and become a hub for the whole of East Asia," he said.
