Recently the People s Bank of China (PBC) issued the 2009 China Financial Standardization Report (hereafter the Report), the first official annual report on the progress of financial standardization in China. The Report reviewed the development of China s financial standardization, introduced the working mechanism, and recorded achievements on the research, development, promotion and implementation of standards, the adoption of international standards, and the participation in the practices of international standardization. It also analyzed the context and challenges that China s financial standardization faces, and proposed the basic guidelines on future development.
The Report pointed out that, as the lifeline of financial industry, financial standards play an important role in modern economic development: they serve as a basic condition for achieving interconnectedness and communication of financial transaction information systems and reducing transaction costs; ensure quality financial services and protect consumers interests; and provide the basis for meeting the need to improve market order and prevent financial risks, and for financial authorities to enhance regulation as well as quality supervision and certification.
Financial standardization in China is now in the process of improvement after the initial stage of development. Under the guidance of the Standardization Administration of China (SAC), the Chinese Financial Standardization Technical Committee (CFSTC) has set up several sub- technical committees on securities, insurance and printing and minting.
By December 2009, the CFSTC has issued 41 national financial standards and 77 financial industrial standards for basic meta-data, terminology, code set, banknote printing and minting, credit information, bank cards, data exchange, and information security. Among them, the standards on bank cards, statistics, information security and credit information have been particularly successful, and the standards on banknote printing and minting have reached top international level.
At the same time, adoption of international financial standards has been strengthened substantially. The CFSTC tracked 85 standards issued by the Technical Committees on Financial Services (TC68) and on Personal Financial Planning (TC222) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and included 75 international standards in its adoption plan.
This synchronous tracking and adoption of international standards proves helpful in providing experiences for progressing the domestic financial standardization.
The Report suggested that, as competition and interdependence in domestic and international financial markets intensifies, one major issue will need to be addressed to advance financial reform and development, i.e., how to strengthen internal risk control in financial institutions, prevent and resolve financial risks, promote financial innovations, improve financial service and enhance financial market competitiveness. It is important, therefore, that the potential of financial standards, which is a key infrastructure, is fully tapped to guide, regulate and integrate this process.
The Report comprises six parts. Part I reviews the development of financial standardization and the achievements in developing, publicizing and implementing standards as well as in adopting international standards and participating in international standardization events, which are also described in greater detail in Part II. Part III defines the priorities of China s financial standardization in the new era, i.e., to set up the financial standard framework, accelerate the development of important standards, strengthen standard implementation, promote the convergence with international financial standardization, and improve standardization management system. Part IV uses boxes to show how financial standards need to be enhanced in response to social and economic development and the economic and social benefits they produce. Part V presents a number of achievements made in the study of standardization, reflecting some thoughts and exploration of the professionals in this field. Part VI is the appendix. The Report has three characteristics. First, it is a comprehensive stock-taking of the development of China s financial standardization over the past 20 years, its achievements and future challenges, marking a milestone in the efforts to advance financial standardization. Second, it gives a detailed illustration of how the society, enterprises and consumers benefit from the implementation of specific financial standards. Third, it includes research papers prepared by the financial industry, providing first-hand reference for improving theoretical research and practical work of financial standardization.
The publication of the Report is expected to contribute to better understanding of China s financial standardization by the economic sector, financial institutions and the general public, to push forward the exchanges and cooperation among domestic and international financial institutions and standardization organizations, and to promote the research and development of China s financial standardization. (End)
