total ; and corporations on the global 500 list that are based in shanghai have seen their cross - border settlement in the rmb surpass that in foreign currencies, with the rmb becoming the most preferred currency for cross - border settlement among multinationals in shanghai. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches in recent years, especially in the wake of the covid - 19 outbreak, with the world's economic and financial landscape undergoing profound changes, shanghai has been faced with new opportunities and challenges in building an international financial center with higher influence. the people's bank of china ( pbc ) and the state administration of foreign exchange ( safe ) pledge continued support for the undertaking, and will work with the cpc shanghai municipal committee, the shanghai municipal government, relevant agencies, and market institutions to bring the development of shanghai as an international financial center to a new height. today i would like to share some opinions for your reference. first, shanghai should adhere to its fundamental positioning in the competition among international financial centers, and focus on the development of a financial center based on rmb - denominated financial assets. with china's economic and financial strength rising continuously, the rmb has become more and more important as an international payment, denomination, trading, and reserve currency. as a result, worldwide demand for investments in rmb assets has been rapidly growing, enhancing the radiation effect of the financial center globally. currently, china has the world's second largest bond market and stock market. with a total size of over rmb160 trillion, they have been included in several major international indices. rmb assets in the portfolios of international institutions have amounted to rmb6. 4 trillion, increasing at an average annual rate of over 20 percent. in particular, domestic rmb bonds held by overseas institutional investors have witnessed an average annual growth rate of nearly 40 percent in recent years. going forward, the pbc and safe will support shanghai in exploring its unique advantages as the center for the issuance and trading of rmb assets in an effort to diversify rmbdenominated financial assets through innovation, improve the depth and width of rmb financial markets, and meet the investment and financing needs of various international investors. second, continued efforts should be made to promote opening - up through multiple channels while work should be sped up to advance higher - level opening - up of onshore markets. china's financial markets have been opening up progressively through channels. of the three major

foreign exchange market administration featuring " macroprudential management plus micro supervision " and to enhance the review mechanisms for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax evasion so that opening - up and risk control will be pushed ahead together. with strong support from all sides and our joint efforts, shanghai is bound to become a high - level international financial center based on rmb - denominated financial assets, and will play a bigger role in advancing china's financial opening - up and high - quality economic development. i wish the forum a complete success. thank you. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches