CDF Voice | Bill Winters, Group CEO of Standard Chartered PLC

Hello, I’m Bill Winters, Group CEO of Standard Chartered.

We’ve been in China for over 165 years, and are proud to be a part of China’s growth and transformation story. With a presence in over 50 markets, we use our “super connector” role to facilitate foreign investment into China and to help Chinese companies expand globally to support China’s growth, wealth, and prosperity.

It’s an exciting time to participate in this year’s edition of the China Development Forum. I’m delighted to be here. The CDF is one of the most prominent fixtures on the global calendar that I look forward to participating in every year. It provides a valuable platform for business and government leaders to discuss and share perspectives on how to navigate challenges and seize the opportunities.

And, importantly, the CDF is tremendously helpful in providing a place to meet old and new partners and friends. It is an extraordinary time. China’s growth story over the last two decades is phenomenal. It hasn’t stopped. The story has shifted. It is now about transformation and unleashing new productive forces to flourish to support high-quality growth.

We are observing some structural shifts: from the acceleration of the global use of RMB, supply chain reconfiguration, to wealth creation, asset allocation, and the expansion of Chinese corporates. These shifts are important and will help achieve a more innovative and efficient economy driven by quantum computing, advanced chips, big data and AI to name a few.

At Standard Chartered, we too are pursuing our own high-quality growth. Our cross-border capabilities are a key strength that enable our super-connector role. And we take pride in our work to support global growth and prosperity as we double-down on our wealth segment. But that’s not all. Important to our new productive forces is empowering the communities in which we operate. In China, in the past five years, through our Futuremakers programme we have donated 30 million RMB, worked with 700 social enterprises, 37,000 social entrepreneurs, helped more than 100,000 young people improve their employment prospects, and helped with business start-ups.

With the comprehensive reform framework set out by the Chinese government at the Third Plenum, we are encouraged and looking forward to participating in China’s next round of transformation and believe the future of banking will play a constructive role.

Thank you. I look forward to this edition of the China Development Forum.

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