. at the same time, we shall make efforts to further improve financial eco - system in the west region and cultivate good market environment so as to retain and attract more financial resources and give the market a full play of its fundamental role in financial resource allocation. improving financial service in the west region shall be integrated into the overall reform strategy of the chinese financial system. in 2003, under the steering of the central government, reform of the stateowned commercial banks was officially launched, with important progress already made on various fronts. in particular, the industrial and commercial bank of china, the bank of china, china construction bank and the bank of communications have all completed financial restructuring and been transformed into join - stock companies. the bank of communications and china construction bank successfully went public. through the reform measures, financial situation of these banks evidently improved, internal control mechanisms were strengthened and corporate governance started to play its disciplinary roles. these banks each maintain a large branch network in the west region, and these branch offices, as i believe, will persistently improve their business management and adaptability to the market economy with the deepening of financial reform, and thus will provide better financial services to economic development of the west region. consistent with steady growth of the chinese economy, the policy banks also face the problem of business transformation. for a foreseeable long period of time, the policy banks are still needed to strengthen their support to economic development in the west region, however, due to limitations of these banks in efficient resource allocation and business development, these traditional policy banks face the challenges in the transformation of business mode. from the perspective of international experiences, we can see that starting in 1990s, policy banks in various countries embarked on the journey of business transformation. generally, these policy banks have transformed themselves into universal development financial institutions. successful examples include the korea development bank and the german development bank ( kfw ). in line with the inherent requirements of the market economy, policy banks in china shall be transformed into development financial institutions with financial viability and strong competitiveness which mainly engage in providing development financing for the medium and long - term projects while continuing to provide policy financial services subject to the fiscal situation of the state. in this case, the policy banks could serve financing needs of industrial restructuring, infrastructure construction and the implementation of “ overseas investment strategy ” by enterprises in the west region and the country at large in a more sustainable way. though limited in asset size and capital strength, local financial institutions also play an important

yi gang : deepen investment and financing cooperation for quality development of the belt and road initiative opening remarks by mr yi gang, governor of the people's bank of china, at the thematic forum on financial connectivity of the second belt and road forum for international cooperation ( brf ), beijing, 25 april 2019. * * * ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, good morning and a warm welcome. taking this opportunity, i would like to give an update on what the financial sector has done to support the bri in the past two years and look forward to the future of financial connectivity. i. the progress thus far in financial support for bri first, the funding support system has been improved and financing has become increasingly market based and diversified. according to our statistics, chinese financial institutions have provided more than us $ 440 billion for bri, among which, more than rmb320 billion were channeled through rmb overseas fund business. china ’ s capital market provided over rmb500 billion yuan in equity financing for the relevant enterprises. the bri countries and enterprises raised more than rmb65 billion by issuing panda bonds in our onshore market. second, financial services have become more sophisticated. at end 2018, 11 chinese banks have established 76 branches and subsidiaries in 28 countries along the belt and road and about 50 banks from 22 belt and road countries have business operations in china. they are providing a larger variety of financial products and services including credit, guarantee, bond underwriting, merger and acquisition, risk management, clearing, and etc. third, international cooperation has deepened. the people ’ s bank of china has signed bilateral local currency swap agreements with 21 central banks along the belt and road. we have deepened third - party cooperation with the international finance company, european bank for reconstruction and development, inter - american development bank and the african development bank. the asian financial cooperation association has strengthened exchanges among financial institutions and improved financial resource integration. the belt and road interbank regular cooperation mechanism has worked continuously to improve cooperation among financial institutions. cooperation mechanisms, such as china - ceec interbank association and sco interbank association, have been keeping making progress. fourth, the concept of green development takes priority. the china society for finance and banking and city of london jointly released the bri green investment principle to promote green development along the belt and road. nearly 20 financial institutions from 10 countries and regions have signed up to the principle. fifth, more efforts has been made in capacity development. the