(Yicai) Jan. 27 -- China’s central bank will support the construction of Shanghai into an international financial center this year to better meet Chinese yuan needs in terms of transaction settlement, investment, financing, and risk management.

The People’s Bank of China will develop the offshore Chinese yuan market, further improve policies on the cross-border use of the yuan, facilitate trade in goods, optimize the layout of yuan clearing banks, and give better play to the role of currency swaps, it said in a press release yesterday, citing discussions from its macroprudential work conference held on Jan. 22.

The conference did not mention Hong Kong as an international financial center. In contrast, in last year’s event, the PBOC said it would accelerate the construction of Shanghai as a global financial center and consolidate and elevate Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center.

The real estate industry was another topic that was touched on last year but not this year. The PBOC said at its 2025 macro prudential work conference that it will improve the financial management of the real estate sector, help stabilize the property market by reversing its downward trend, and support the development of a new model for the industry.

During the conference this year, the PBOC also reviewed its work in 2025. The central bank accelerated the development of the macroprudential management system, improved the governance mechanism, consolidated the standardized and practical capabilities of macroprudential monitoring and evaluation, and strengthened macroprudential regulation in key areas, including systemically important financial institutions, financial markets, and cross-border capital flows.

Moreover, the PBOC promoted the internationalization of the Chinese yuan last year by improving arrangements for the cross-border use of the currency, optimizing the currency swap and clearing bank networks, enhancing the yuan’s function as a financing currency, further facilitating trade and investment, and continuously raising its ability to serve the real economy.

Editor: Futura Costaglione