The financial hub of Shanghai has more to do to consolidate its status as an international financial center, China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) chairman Liu Mingkang told a forum on Friday.

"Shanghai has laid a solid foundation for making itself an international financial center. But it is still a big step away from the objective," Liu told the first Lujiazui Forum on opening day.

The financial forum, co-chaired by Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng and central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, is seeking ideas to make Shanghai a global financial center. Lujiazui is the name of the city's financial district.

"Beyond creating a better financial environment, Shanghai needs to build a credit culture suitable for its financial status and improve its appeal to financial talent," said the CBRC chairman.

Shanghai's financial sector only has about 100,000 professionals, compared with some 400,000 on Wall Street and more than 250,000 in London, he said.

The Credit Checking Center of the People's Bank of China (PBOC, the central bank) opened here on Friday. The center is another government effort to support Shanghai's financial growth.

"The central bank based the center in Shanghai to better serve the financial market development in the Yangtze River Delta, where Shanghai plays a leading role," said Su Ning, vice governor of the PBOC.

The credit system has records on 13.58 million Chinese companies and 600 million individuals. In the first quarter, the system responded to 6.5 million inquiries on companies and 34.4 million on individuals.

The two-day forum invited such world financial leaders as ClaraFurse, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the London Stock Exchange, James Wolfensohn, the former president of the World Bankand John Mack, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, to join panel discussions.

The first forum is called "Deepening financial reform: China and the world." Shanghai hopes to develop the event into an international brand forum for the city.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan gave a keynote speech at the opening of the forum, stressing the importance of risk prevention in the development of the economy.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2008)