The insurance industry for the Chinese city of Shanghai has been hailed number one globally for the first time by an industry report.

The 22nd Global Financial Centres Index, released by the Z/Yen Group, a British commercial think-tank and the China Development Institute.

“This ranking represents the evaluation for Shanghai as a financial centre from the experts of related industries, which means that specialists in the insurance industry are particularly positive about Shanghai,” said Mark Yeandle, lead author of the GFCI report and vice president of Z/Yen.

The city also ranked sixth for finance in general, up from 13th place. This is the first time Shanghai has broken into the top ten. The gap between Shanghai and other Asian financial centres such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo is narrowing, according to the report, but it still remains behind those cities in terms of business environment and reputation.

The report recommends that Shanghai must work to improve its business environment as the research shows that this is the most valued factor by professionals when evaluating financial centres.

Shanghai is advised to provide various channels for capital and flow of high quality financial talents. The report also recommended that the city should strive to develop a transparent rule of law, timely information, and an excellent business environment to decrease uncertainties in financial trading, which will lead to lower transaction costs.

Additionally, Shanghai should step up its efforts in promoting to the global community that it has the capabilities to be a leading international financial centre and document its progress.


Related stories:
China’s insurers report income slowdown in first half
Singapore set to take London’s spot as leading financial centre
Labuan IBFC hailed as Asia’s top captive insurance domicile