Singapore, 25 September 2019... Dr Zhou Xiaochuan, President, China Society for Finance and Banking and Former Governor, People’s Bank of China, spoke at the 10th MAS Lecture on 19 September 2019. Dr Zhou’s lecture topic was titled, “FinTech development and its interaction with policy making”.  He discussed how China addressed the challenges and opportunities facing its financial sector as it became increasingly digitalised. Dr Zhou also addressed the key issues and challenges posed to monetary policy and financial stability by the emergence of digital currencies.

2     More than 550 guests attended the closed-door lecture. Participants included central bank staff from the region, senior public officials, academics, diplomats, representatives of international organisations and senior executives from financial institutions.

3     Dr Zhou has had a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years in public service and central banking. He has been widely recognised as a visionary leader and an influential policy-maker who championed China’s financial reform during his governorship of the People’s Bank of China.  Dr Zhou led the introduction of a number of banking reforms, which allowed market-based mechanisms to play a bigger role in China’s financial system and enhanced the effectiveness of monetary policy to safeguard overall financial and economic stability. He also steered efforts to liberalise China’s exchange rate regime and promote Renminbi internationalisation.

4     The MAS Lecture series, which began in 2000, provides a platform for a distinguished member of the international financial community to speak on issues of current interest.  Previous speakers include Mr Robert Rubin, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Citigroup Inc and former US Treasury Secretary, Mr William McDonough, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Sir Howard Davies, Chairman of UK's Financial Services Authority, Dr Agustin Carstens, Governor of the Banco de Mexico and Mr Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England.

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