countries. macao is the only city in china to maintain such special relationship with these countries. the central government attaches much importance to it. as early as 2003, the standing secretariat of the “ forum for cooperation and development between china and portuguese speaking countries ” was set up in macao. it carries the function of enhancing economic and trade relation between china and portuguese speaking countries ( including angola, brazil, cape verde, east timor, guinea bissau, mozambique and portugal ). premier wen jiabao was present in macao in november 2010 for its third ministerial conference and made an important speech. he raised a series of policy measures which would promote macao to be the platform for economic and trade cooperation between china and portuguese speaking countries. vice premier wang qishan met with delegates of macao financial sector in october last year. he had high regard of macao for its function as bridge and hub belt servicing liaison between china and portuguese speaking countries. he also hoped that macao would play a pivotal role in promoting trade settlement denominated in rmb with portuguese speaking countries. at the same time, macao and europe has rather long relationship. the linkage of macao and europe can be traced back to the 16th century. at that time, religious practices, culture, technology and manufactured products of europe were imported into macao from south asia, and then were transmitted to other regions of east asia. before the 19th century, macao played an important role in communication in economic and cultural aspects between civilians of the mainland and european countries. after the establishment of the sar, the chief executive visited a number of member states of the european union which has further strengthened linkage in a number of realms of the european union. in addition, the sar government has established the office to the european union, which would further reinforce relationship between macao and the european union. fourth, the financial supervision of macao has achieved international standard. in 2008, imf conducted an appraisal of financial supervision of macao. out of the 25 core principles for effective banking supervision, 21 were compliant, 4 were largely compliant. financial institutions in macao have fine risk management. the regulator carries out effective supervision in a consistent manner. this creates a solid ground work for the rmb to “ reach out ”. fifth, as aforementioned, macao was designated, as early as 2004, one of the testing grounds for offshore rmb business. banks of macao have accumulated ample experience related to rmb business operation

services office of the municipal government of shanghai in 2012, the “ 1st financial cooperation meeting between shanghai and macao ” took place in shanghai in 2013. during the meeting, consensus on various issues was reached and expected results were achieved, including the proper use of macao as a trade and commerce platform between mainland china and portuguese - speaking countries ( pscs ). as far as we recognise, the msar financial sector has entered into a stage where opportunities are abundant. in the current situation, i believe that the local financial sector should look at it from a broader perspective, think more innovatively, make full use of various policy initiatives, try actively and seize the opportunities. on the basis of maintaining a reasonably prudent balance between business development and risk management, the local financial sector could reach new highs in the future, while making greater contribution to appropriate economic diversification. bis central bankers ’ speeches finally, on behalf of the amcm, i wish the msar continuous prosperity and stability, macao ’ s financial sector steady development, everyone a prosperous year of the horse, good health and a happy family! thank you very much! bis central bankers ’ speeches