Chinese and overseas bank leaders gathered in Shanghai on April 2 to discuss cross-border financial cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Jin Yu, chairman of Shanghai Bank, predicted that the initiative will promote the increase in investment and further development in the next five years, which will cause increasing banking demands in regards to renminbi internationalization, cross-border finance, project fundraising, and investment bank.

Jin also said that due to the complexity of BRI-related projects, more professional and comprehensive services are required, which also requires banks to seek cooperation with institutions of various levels and various fields.

Samuel N. Tsien, CEO of Singapore's OCBC Bank, stated that Singapore, Southeast Asia's financial center, is important to the Belt and Road Initiative, and the bank expected to help Chinese companies expand overseas by virtue of the initiative.

Tsien said, "OCBC Bank will strongly support cross-border trade, wealth management and capital flow to help Chinese companies go global and overseas companies develop in China."

Kong Xuhong, CEO of Santander Group Asia Pacific, said that Europe is indispensable to the Maritime Silk Road and BRI international cooperation and he looks forward to participating in the BRI development.

Yang Zaiping, secretary general of Asian Financial Cooperation Association, said, "BRI brings a lot of opportunities, which is why the initiative has been well received. But there are also existing risks, which required cooperation among enterprises."

During the symposium, Shanghai Bank signed a cooperation agreement with OCBC Bank and Santander Group to jointly provide Chinese and overseas enterprises with more comprehensive financial services.