independent institution, the ecb. while independent, the ecb is accountable to a democratically elected body, the european parliament. our decisions are taken at the european level. they are taken in the interest of europe. and – as a logical consequence – they are democratically legitimised at the european level. currently, this democratic control includes parliamentarians from countries that do not share the currency of the union, which the treaty explicitly states as being the euro. this logic cannot, however, be directly applied to all other policy areas. deciding on taxation and the allocation of budgetary expenditures is the core competence of national parliaments, and for good reason. taxation mirrors the people ’ s preferences for the supply of public goods and – just as importantly – their willingness to finance these public goods. taxation and the allocation of budgetary expenditures, therefore, requires a high degree of democratic legitimacy and parliamentary control at the national level. the concept of a european taxpayer, briefly discussed during the negotiations leading up to the maastricht treaty, did not end up being included in the treaty. this is currently a national prerogative, but that does not mean that we should shy away from further fiscal integration in the long run. we just need to get it right. lenaerts, k., cardonnel, p., rosas, a. and wahl, n. ( 2012 ), “ ‘ civis europaeus sum ’ : from the cross - border link to the status of citizen of the union ”, constitutionalising the eu judicial system, oxford. hoeksma, j. ( 2015 ), “ eu & emu : beyond the 2005 – 2014 crises decade ”, duisenberg school of finance ( dsf ) policy paper series, no 51, april. bis central bankers ’ speeches one of the ideas currently being discussed is a euro area - wide fiscal stabilisation function. this function could help to better cushion the economy against large macroeconomic shocks that cannot be dealt with at the national level alone. for such euro area stabilisation to work, however, we first need a significant degree of economic convergence and financial integration according to the five presidents ’ report. 3 in any case, a fiscal stabilisation function is meant to be just that : a stabilisation function. it should not be misused to introduce a transfer system through the back door. a fiscal stabilisation function could be managed by a euro - area treasury that would be

of the state council, more than 50 opening - up measures have been introduced in the financial sector, including significantly easing foreign equity restrictions, expanding business scope, and exploring new areas for cooperation between chinese and foreign financial markets. so far, these policies have gradually been implemented and delivered results, and produced a batch of demonstrative cases. the first wholly foreignowned insurance holding company, the first wholly foreign - owned life insurance company, and the first foreign - controlled wealth management company were successively approved for establishment. the strides of opening - up in the financial sector have not been stopped for a moment, even amid the worst situations of the covid - 19 pandemic. in the next step, while resolutely safeguarding china ’ s financial security and stability, we will unswervingly expand opening - up in the financial service sector, continuously optimize institutional arrangements for the financial market, deepen international economic and financial cooperation, and steadily improve the competitiveness of the financial system while further opening up. we welcome foreign institutions with sound market reputation and credit records, especially those with specialties and expertise in risk control, pension management, consumer finance, wealth management and health insurance, to enter china and vitalize the market. we also encourage chinese financial institutions to “ go global ” and do business in host countries in accordance with local laws and regulations. iv. we will give full play to the immense role of technological advancement in improving financial efficiency finance and technology have always been mutually reinforcing each other and developing together. all the major technological revolutions in the history significantly drove the financial sector forward. the introduction of telegraph enabled financial services to be offered beyond time and spatial limits. the application of computers significantly enhanced the capacity of storing 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches financial data and improved the efficiency of financial services. nowadays, the achievements of technological revolution, represented by the internet, big data and block - chain, have been widely applied in the financial sector. meanwhile, finance has also supported and boosted the development of tech companies through credit and capital markets. that the financial sector is among the first to widely apply technological achievements has been an important driving force for technological progress. some banks and insurance companies have already set up influential tech companies. fintech application in china has been world - leading in many aspects. mobile payment, electronic clearing, online banking and digital credit have been developing rapidly. so far, transactions conducted without visiting bank outlets have accounted for nearly 90 percent of the total in