China and Britain should strengthen their cooperation to promote the implementation of the consensus reached at the Group of 20's Washington and London summits, Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said Friday.
"The global financial crisis is still spreading, and the situation remains serious... China and Britain, as important members of the Group of 20 leading nations, should take even stronger measures jointly to meet challenges and promote early recovery of both countries and the global economy," Wang wrote in an article published in Friday's Financial Times ahead of his official visit to the United Kingdom and the Second China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue on May 8-12.
In the article, Wang pointed out that since the outbreak of the crisis, the two countries and the rest of the international community have stood side by side and worked closely together.
To overcome the current difficulties, it is essential to convert confidence into credit in the market and quickly recover functions of the financial markets. It is important properly to co-ordinate the positions of all sides and to make good use of "both hands" -- the government and the market.
Wang said that China and Britain have a lot to offer each other and great potential for cooperation in the financial sector. China will continue to open its financial sector in an active, prudent and gradual manner, he said.
"We welcome the presence of British financial institutions in China. We also hope that the UK side will provide greater facilitation to Chinese financial institutions wishing to expand business in the UK," he said.
Wang said that the China-UK relationship is at a new historical starting point.
"We should make full and best use of the second round of economic and financial talks between our countries to exchange ideas on sustainable development, energy and the environment, trade and investment, the capital markets and social welfare," he said.
Apart from bilateral financial and economic relations, Wang also mentioned a series of suggestions regarding measures to tackle the ongoing financial crisis on a global scope.
He emphasized that it is imperative for countries to coordinate macroeconomic policies and for all to adopt stimulus, fiscal and monetary policies and to reject protectionism of all kinds.
Regarding financial regulations, he said, "we should strengthen, on the basis of sovereign rules, cooperation in regulating international private capital flows, financial institutions and markets, financial products and intermediaries."
Wang said regulatory authorities "should enhance sharing of information and experience with each other, and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their information exchange."
He said that it also was important to improve the basic financial system, including international accounting standards, valuation of complex financial products, governance structure, the credit rating system and internal risk management.
Concerning financial stability, Wang said "we should keep exchange rates of major currencies stable through exchange rate policy coordination."
"We should establish a global financial risk early-warning system as soon as we can. It is important to increase emergency assistance for the hard-hit developing countries, especially the least-developed ones," Wang said.
The developing countries, Wang said, need to be given more guidance on how to properly tackle the crisis, with a view to ensuring the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals that aim to alleviate extreme poverty.
In terms of reforming the international financial system, he said, "with the goal of shaping a new international financial order that is fair, just, inclusive and orderly, we should together call for and promote balanced diversification in the international monetary system to ensure and support its stability."
"We should advance reform of international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Financial Stability Board so as to increase the representation and voices of developing countries and make sure that the decision-making process is transparent, fair and just," he said.
Source: Xinhua
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