own funds. these limitations come from the bank recovery and resolution directive ( brrd ) which, in my view, is the most crucial regulatory change in europe of late, applicable to all 28 eu member countries, and will significantly contribute to breaking the bank - sovereign nexus. let me explain. the brrd implements a true paradigm change, ending the culture of bail - out and ushering in a culture of bail - in. as of 2016, in all resolution cases, the brrd will impose to the resolution authorities, a bail - in of shareholders and creditors equal to at least 8 % of total liabilities including own funds of a given bank. this amount of 8 % is very substantial if we compare it to the losses which banks faced in the recent crisis. to give you an idea : between 2008 and 2010 only one bank had losses exceeding the 8 % threshold, and the average for all other banks was slightly less than 3 %. if we look further back to the nordic financial crisis in the 90s, none of the banks affected by this crisis faced losses of more than 8 % of its total liabilities including own funds. let me first briefly describe what happens once a bank enters into resolution and how the socalled “ bail - in tool ” works under the new framework. the bail - in tool follows a sequential approach. before any resolution fund can be tapped, shareholders and creditors have to first absorb losses amounting to at least 8 % of total liabilities including own funds. although uninsured deposits from individuals and small firms come last among liabilities possibly subject to bail - in, they would be included if needed to attain the 8 % total. according to the new rules, only insured deposits are totally excluded from the bail - in tool. only after the 8 % amount is bailed - in from shareholders and creditors, can money from the resolution fund be used and for a maximum amount of 5 % of total liabilities ( including own funds ) of the bank under resolution. public resources can then be used only in case this is not enough ( which, based on past crisis experience would be exceptional ). public money, either from national governments or from direct european recapitalisation of banks, can only be used at the very end of the process which, in practice, should happen exceedingly rarely. bail - in of shareholders and creditors plus the use of the resolution fund should in most conceivable cases, be enough to ultimately cover for the losses incurred by the

willem duisenberg : china and the euro area in a global perspective address by dr willem f. duisenberg, president of the european central bank, at the symposium of the people ’ s bank of china, beijing, 25 february 2002. * * * governor dai, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to be here in china and i feel especially honoured to be invited to deliver a speech at the people ’ s bank. first, i would like to wish you all a very prosperous new year, under the sign of the horse. i would also like to take this opportunity to thank governor dai and his staff, among other things, for their hospitality and for having prepared such an excellent programme for our delegation. ever since china opened up to the outside world in 1978, it has been a major trading nation thanks to social and economic reforms. the process has turned china into a major economy and strengthened it as a political power. in 2000, the size of the chinese economy, measured in terms of gdp, passed the usd 1 trillion mark, and is now ranked fifth behind the united states, the euro area, japan and the united kingdom. to accompany china ’ s growing economic and financial weight in the international community, the eu is committed to further developing a comprehensive partnership with this country. the ecb is playing its part through co - operation in both international and bilateral meetings. for example, we meet regularly with other central banks in the context of the imf, g20 and bis to exchange views on global economic and financial issues. in fact, i have already met governor dai once this year ( actually, last week ) in hong kong, at a bis special governors ’ meeting. europe and asia also co - operate closely through the asem ( asia - europe meeting ) process, launched in bangkok in 1996. this has now developed into a broad forum for in - depth consultations between european and asian partners and has prompted a range of co - operation initiatives. for example, in april this year the ecb will be organising a seminar on “ regional economic, financial and monetary co - operation : the european and asian experiences ”. of course, i would also like to recall that the eu has long been in favour of china joining the world trade organisation, as it now has done, for which i should like to congratulate you. on a bilateral basis, four summit meetings between the eu and chinese leaders have been held since 1998. leaders exchanged views on eu - china relations