Shanghai will develop offshore financial business as part of moves to attract highly qualified financial talents, the city's financial services office said yesterday.

The city plans to develop offshore banking services and offshore financial assets management business in the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, said Ma Hong, deputy director of the Shanghai Financial Services Office, yesterday.

Shanghai is building itself into an international financial hub, and the offshore financial market is part of the broad picture, Ma said.

More Chinese financial institutions are investing overseas, prompting the need for the set-up of the offshore business.

The establishment of the offshore market can help Chinese companies understand market development trend and strengthen risk control. The business in Yangshan will also help attract related financial talents, he said.

The Yangshan port centers around two islands and is connected to the mainland by the Donghai Bridge across the East China Sea.

Shanghai is planing more policies to woo talents for its financial industry. The office will begin a trial program this year to expand the tax-free bonus for high-end talents at newly established financial institutions to those that are already working in the city, Ma said. The move aims to attract highly qualified financial professionals who shun Shanghai due to the higher individual income tax rate, compared to Hong Kong or Singapore. Shanghai used to refund part of the individual income tax for qualified financial talents before 2006 as a stimulus.

The trial will begin in the Lujiazui area in Pudong New Area and the Bund in Huangpu District, Ma said.

Pudong will also offer 10,000 apartments to house financial talents within three years. Shanghai attracts about 5,000 overseas talents annually, 10 percent of whom go to the financial sector.

(Shanghai Daily November 26, 2008)