IMF unveils plan for China-based regional centre in Shanghai, moving closer to Asia-Pacific

Monetary body announces new research hub on opening day of the annual Lujiazui Forum, and PBOC expects move to ‘deepen cooperation’ between China and IMF

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From left to right, PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, Shanghai party secretary Chen Jining, and Shanghai mayor Gong Zheng mark the opening an IMF regional centre in Shanghai on Wednesday during the Lujiazui Forum. Photo: Bloomberg

Ji Siqiin BeijingandAlice Liin Hong Kong

Published: 10:17am, 19 Jun 2024Updated: 3:24pm, 19 Jun 2024

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is opening a regional centre in Shanghai to strengthen its engagement and partnership in the Asia-Pacific region, it announced on Wednesday.

The Shanghai Regional Centre will serve as a hub to promote research that can inform policies in areas of interest to emerging-market and middle-income countries, according to an IMF statement.

The centre will help deepen the IMF’s dialogue with member countries and other stakeholders in the region, including international financial institutions, academics, think tanks, civil society organisations and the private sector, it said.

The IMF announcement was made on the first day of the annual Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, and ahead of the Central Committee of China’s Communist Party’s third plenum in July – a highly anticipated political gathering that will roll out plans for the country’s economic development in the next decade.

The Lujiazui Forum, being held for the 15th time, is regarded as an influential finance industry gathering, and it represents Shanghai’s ambitions to become a global financial centre.

“We welcome the establishment of the IMF Regional Centre in Shanghai,” said Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), at the launch ceremony.