Opening Up and Competitive Neutrality: The International Experience and Insights for China
Seventh High Level Joint Conference
People’s Bank of China and International Monetary Fund
April 24, 2019
As China shifts from high-speed to high quality growth while aiming to control corporate leverage, it has become even more important to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently and irrespective of ownership-type (state-owned, private, foreign, or domestic) or company size.
Creating such an environment of “competitive neutrality” is challenging and has been the focus of a number of countries and international organizations. Australia, for example, conceived the concept of competitive neutrality in the late 1980s and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2011 identified eight building blocks that govern such a strategy. While the terminology might differ across countries, the overarching aim is to create a level playing field for all market participants.
Recently, the Chinese authorities have put competitive neutrality to the top of their reform agenda, and in the 2019 Report on the Work of the Government (March), Premier Li Keqiang stressed “We will follow the principle of competitive neutrality, so that when it comes to access to factors of production, market access and licenses, business operations, government procurement, public biddings, and so on, enterprises under all forms of ownership will be treated on an equal footing”.
Hence, the conference will review international experience and determine how it could apply to China. Conference participants will also assess existing developments, discuss the authorities’ reform plans, and identify areas for future work.
The event will bring together international and domestic experts, staff from the People’s Bank of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the State-Owned Assets and Supervision and Administration Commission, the State Administration for Market Regulation, financial sector regulators, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, the IMF, academics, as well as private sector representatives.
The conference is by invitation only. Following the event, we will publish an e-book with presentations and short summaries.
Agenda
| 9:00-9:15 |
Opening Remarks CHEN Yulu, Deputy Governor, People’s Bank of China Changyong Rhee, Director, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF |
| 9:15-10:30 | Session I: The Concept of Competitive Neutrality: The International Experience Moderator: MIAO Yanliang, Chief Economist, SAFE Investment Center Speakers (10-15 minutes each): Michael Brennan, Chair, Productivity Commission, Australia Thomas Ostros, IMF Executive Director and Former Minister for Industry and Trade Sweden Antonio Capobianco, Acting Head, Financial and Enterprise Affairs Directorate, Competition Division, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Discussion |
| 10:30-10:45 | Coffee break |
| 10:45-12:30 | Session II: Competitive Neutrality: Stocktaking Moderator: Martin Raiser, Country Director, World Bank Speakers (10 minutes each): LIU Shijin, Vice Chairman of China Development Research Foundation, Vice Director of the Economic Committee of The National Committee of CPPCC MO Wangui, Deputy Director General, Research Institute, PBC YANG Hongfeng, Deputy Director General，Price Supervision and Anti Unfair Competition Bureau, State Administration for Market Regulation NIE Huihua, Professor and Executive Deputy Dean, National Academy of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China Kenneth H. Kang, Deputy Director and Sarwat Jahan, Senior Economist, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF Discussion |
| 12:45-14:00 | Lunch Keynote speaker: Justin Yifu LIN, Dean, Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University |
| 14:00-15:30 | Session III: The Way Forward Moderator: GUO Kai, Deputy Director General, International Department, PBC Speakers (10 minutes each): Michael Buchanan, Senior Managing Director, Temasek, Singapore MA Jun, Director, Center for Finance and Development, Tsinghua University Nicholas Lardy, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics ZHANG Chunlin, Lead Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank Discussion |
| 15:30-15:45 | Coffee break |
| 15:45-17:15 | Session IV: Opening Up Moderator: Sally Chen, Resident Representative for Hong Kong SAR, IMF Speakers (10 minutes each): GUO Kai, Deputy Director General, People’s Bank of China HE Dong, Deputy Director, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, IMF Charlotte Roule, Vice President, European Chamber of Commerce Era Dabla-Norris, Division Chief, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF Discussion |
| 17:15-18:15 | Concluding Roundtable The panel discussion will draw on key insights from the day’s discussions. Panel members will summarize the main take-always of the four sessions, with a focus on potential lessons for China. Moderator: Kenneth Kang, Deputy Director, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF Panelists: Alan Beebe, President, American Chamber of Commerce HUANG Yiping, Professor and Deputy Dean, National School of Development, Peking University Shaun Roache, Managing Director and Chief Economist, Asia-Pacific, S&P Global Ratings Rhoda Weeks-Brown, Director, Legal Department, IMF Guo Kai, Deputy Director General, People’s Bank of China |
| 18:15-18:30 | Closing remarks Alfred Schipke, Senior Resident Representative, IMF |