Source: Financial Times
The 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Meeting officially opened on 10 19. The Financial Times learned that Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China; Ding Xiangqun, Administrator of the National Financial Regulatory Administration; Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission; and Zhu Hexin, Director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, will attend the 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Meeting and deliver keynote speeches.
The annual forum will be held at Beijing Financial Street from 10/19 to 22, with the theme "Openness, Cooperation, Inclusiveness — Building a New Global Financial Development Ecosystem Together."
What highlights can we expect from this conference? The Financial Times has compiled the following:
Focus on topics such as artificial intelligence and cross-border investment and financing.
At the 2026 Financial Street Forum, the People's Bank of China's main forum, themed "Economic Governance, Financial Innovation, and the Central Bank's Role in the Era of AI Evolution," brought together representatives from the Bank for International Settlements, central banks from multiple countries, and leading domestic and international financial institutions to discuss how central banks can balance innovation enablement with risk management.
The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) has integrated the International Advisory Committee meeting into the forum framework, focusing on cross-border financial risk resolution, opening up and regulatory coordination in the insurance sector. A new Insurance Conference was launched to release the "High-Quality Development Research Report on the 15th Five-Year Plan for the Insurance Industry," with discussions centered on catastrophe insurance and climate risk governance.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) hosted the main forum titled "Building World-Class Investment Institutions to Serve High-Quality Development of the Capital Market," focusing on nurturing patient capital and promoting two-way opening-up of the capital market. A sub-forum, "AI-Enabled Digital Intelligence for the Capital Market," was also held under the FinTech Conference.
Xinhua News Agency hosted the main forum titled "Adaptation, Precision, Symbiosis: Building a New Ecosystem for High-Quality Financial Services Supporting the Real Economy," led the "Voice of Financial Street — Financial Street Release" results session, and launched major reports including the "Financial Street Development Report 2026."
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) hosted a special session titled "Cross-border Financial Development and Cooperation in the New Global Landscape," analyzing how shifting geopolitical dynamics, AI, and digital currencies are reshaping cross-border capital flows. The session also discussed practical issues including cross-border investment and financing under the Belt and Road Initiative and the international use of the renminbi.
"As noted by industry experts, this forum integrates AI into finance across multiple sessions: the People's Bank of China plenary session examines AI's impact on macroeconomic policy from a central bank perspective; the National Financial Regulatory Administration hosts an international seminar focused on building an AI finance governance framework; the CSRC sub-forum explores how AI empowers digital intelligence and regulatory boundaries in capital markets; and the FinTech Application Scenario Competition features tracks for large models and multi-agent systems to showcase real-world implementations. While affirming AI's value in reducing costs, improving efficiency, and advancing financial inclusion, the forum consistently emphasizes balancing development with security, offering China's practical contribution to global AI finance governance."
Fintech and Insurance Conferences Launch Simultaneously
As one of the special sessions of the 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Conference, the 2026 FinTech Conference will be held from 10 to 20 22 at the National FinTech Demonstration Zone. This year's conference, themed "Intelligence-Driven and Integrated Symbiosis: New Forms of FinTech in the Intelligent Economy," focuses on cutting-edge topics such as building a FinTech ecosystem and digital transformation in the financial industry. Through plenary sessions, parallel forums, closed-door meetings, and a series of specialized events, it aims to deeply explore the development trends and practical pathways of FinTech innovation, fostering deep integration among technological innovation, financial services, and industrial development.
The conference will focus on key topics such as fintech risk management, data security governance, and fintech ethics. It aims to implement the principle of balancing development promotion with regulatory compliance, explore practical pathways for enhancing the digitalization and intelligence of financial supervision, showcase China's progress in developing digital currency and international cooperation, share Chinese practices in digital finance governance, and provide references for improving global fintech governance.
Additionally, the Fintech Application Scenario Competition adopts a "challenge-based" approach to select outstanding solutions from real-world economic needs across tracks such as data elements, artificial intelligence, blockchain, digital infrastructure, and digital transformation. Typical cases will be highlighted through the "Fintech Voice" campaign.
As one of the special sessions innovatively launched during the 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Meeting, the Insurance Conference represents a key initiative to deepen expertise in the financial sector. The conference opened on 10 20 and ran for two days. Set against the backdrop of the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, it aligns with national financial reform and opening-up strategies as well as Beijing's development direction for the financial industry. The event aims to fully leverage the resource-aggregation advantages of the Financial Street platform by creating a multi-stakeholder dialogue forum involving government agencies, regulatory bodies, industry enterprises, academic think tanks, and international organizations. It seeks to strengthen the insurance sector's core role in serving national strategies, mitigating and resolving risks, and safeguarding public welfare, while enhancing the professional influence and global voice of China's insurance industry.
The theme of this Insurance Summit is "Global Resilience, Empowered by Insurance – Building an Open and Inclusive New Ecosystem." The event will feature an opening ceremony and four specialized forums. Senior representatives from the Beijing Municipal People's Government, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, and China Life Insurance Group will attend to deliver opening remarks. The summit will also unveil key outcomes, including the research report "High-Quality Development Research for the Insurance Industry in the 15th Five-Year Plan," led by the Insurance Association of China. These initiatives aim to provide strategic insights for the industry's reform and development over the next five years and foster sector-wide consensus.
