The closing ceremony of the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2025 is held in Beijing on Thursday.

The booth of the national financial management center at the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing.

Backed by strong support from central financial authorities and institutions, Beijing's financial sector has grown to account for nearly half of the nation's total financial assets during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

This growth has continually reinforced the city's role as a national financial management hub, supporting the real economy through five key initiatives.

These insights were shared by Yin Yong, mayor of Beijing, at the closing ceremony of the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2025 on Thursday.

He emphasized that during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), Beijing will continue to deepen financial reforms and open up further, accelerating the development of a modern financial system aligned with its status as the capital of a major nation.

Yin invited global financial institutions, professionals, and long-term investors to establish and expand their presence in the city, sharing in its development opportunities.

This year's forum featured 38 high-quality parallel events, attracting over 400 ministerial-level officials, leaders of international organizations, senior executives from financial institutions, and scholars from more than 30 countries and regions.

It drew more than 6,000 attendees to the site and engaged billions online, setting records for scale and influence.

This year, the event solidified its role as a "weather vane" for financial policy, expanding the scope of international cooperation, enhancing the commercialization of research outcomes, and highlighting the financial sector's support for the real economy.

For the first time, the forum established five overseas subforums in regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Representatives from international financial hubs like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Casablanca, and Frankfurt participated, demonstrating a global desire for increased financial communication.

Additionally, the forum witnessed the unveiling of several significant institutions, the signing of numerous international cooperation agreements, and the announcement of over 100 important achievements.

Notably, more than 300 high-quality enterprises engaged in in-depth discussions with over 100 investment institutions, resulting in substantial cooperation that will bolster financial services for the real economy.

In response to the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the forum included a topic on the transformation of the financial ecosystem in the AI era. Dilma Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank, emphasized that AI should be a public good benefiting the world.

She noted that China insists AI must be benevolent and serve all humanity, with transparent and reliable governance providing a crucial perspective for global AI management.

During the forum, the National Institution for Finance and Development released a guidance on the application of large models in the financial industry, outlining the application boundaries, implementation paths, and compliance requirements.

This guidance offers digital transformation references for banks, securities, and insurance institutions.

Yang Tao, deputy director of the institution, stated that the application of AI large models in finance is an inevitable trend. "We emphasize that finance should better serve the real economy, support new quality productive forces, and contribute to a technologically strong nation. Large models can play a significant role in achieving these goals," he said.

A highlight of this year's forum was the Financial Street Release event, where the latest research and major practical achievements in the sector were revealed.

Notably, the Financial Street Development Report 2025 indicated that during the 14th Five-Year Plan, Beijing's Financial Street saw more prominent roles in decision-making, regulation, standard-setting, asset management, payment settlement, information exchange and international cooperation, a sign of its enhanced influence.

"The development of Financial Street benefits from the broader context of national reform and opening-up, resonating with the country's modernization process," said Zhi Haijie, head of Beijing's Xicheng district, where Financial Street is located.

"Today, this street concentrates China's financial policymaking and execution bodies, serving as a key node for observing the operation of the country's financial industry and echoing its call for financial openness," he said. Currently, global asset management institutions in Financial Street manage assets exceeding 21 trillion yuan ($2.95 trillion).

In terms of policy, positive news emerged during the forum as Beijing released opinions on promoting the high-quality development of venture capital and private equity investment, and on supporting mergers and acquisitions of listed companies.

These measures aim to streamline the fundraising, investment, management, and exit life cycle and provide systematic support for mergers and acquisitions. Participants of the forum widely regarded these practical measures as "tangible and inspiring".

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn