(Yicai) Dec. 9 -- The International Monetary Fund has launched its new center in Shanghai, which will serve as a key hub to advance research that can inform policies in emerging markets and middle-income countries and safeguard global and regional financial stability.

The Shanghai Center will also provide targeted capacity building support for economies in the region, Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, said during an opening ceremony yesterday.

Georgieva outlined several key research areas the center will focus on, with the first being how to improve the business environment to fully unleash the potential of the private sector. Authorities need to reduce red tape and lower regulatory barriers to allow factors of production to flow more flexibly, she noted.

Another point is how to best leverage new technologies widely adopted by the financial industry, where policies need to strike a balance between allowing innovation to flourish and maintaining stability, she said. How countries can keep the role of trade as an engine for growth against the backdrop of an evolving global trade landscape must also be answered, she pointed out.

The opening of the IMF Shanghai Center reflects the firm stance of China and the institution on advocating win-win cooperation, said Pan Gongsheng, governor of the country's central bank. It is of great significance for deepening ties between the two, promoting macroeconomic policy exchange and coordination among Asia-Pacific countries, and maintaining global and regional financial stability while improving governance, he noted.

Johannes Wiegand, a senior IMF economist, will serve as the first director of the Shanghai Center. Wiegand has extensive experience in global and regional economic policy issues and has a broad collaborative network in international policy research and studies.

Editor: Martin Kadiev