Today, with the continuous implementation of relevant policies from the Two Sessions, China’s financial institutions are witnessing a new upsurge in their international layout. This year’s Two Sessions clearly proposed guiding the rational and orderly cross-border layout of industrial and supply chains, improving the overseas comprehensive service system, and supporting large state-owned financial institutions to enhance their comprehensive service capabilities, pointing out the direction for financial globalization. By the end of 2025, China had established more than 50,000 enterprises overseas, covering 190 countries and regions. The upgrading of enterprises’ overseas needs has promoted the transformation of financial services from “fund providers” to “comprehensive financial service providers.”

Recently, Chinese financial institutions have performed prominently in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. In the transaction where Global New Materials International acquired relevant businesses of Germany’s Merck Group, institutions such as SDIC Securities and Industrial Bank participated in the whole process, demonstrating the professional capabilities of Chinese institutions. At the same time, securities companies and banks are accelerating their overseas layout. Northeast Securities has been approved to establish a subsidiary in Hong Kong, and Bank of China has significantly expanded the coverage of its branches in countries along the Belt and Road. China UnionPay has also launched digital card issuance services in Brazil, increasing the number of countries and regions covered by its global card issuance to 85.

Currently, financial institutions are relying on financial technology to optimize cross-border service processes and enhance core competitiveness through institutional integration. However, compared with world-class financial groups, China’s financial institutions still have room for improvement in comprehensive operation capabilities. In the future, it is necessary to further improve top-level design, strengthen global operation capabilities, and promote the leap of financial globalization from scale expansion to quality improvement.