Moody's chairman and CEO John Rutherfurd Jr. expects China to continue growing quickly, while financial sector reform will have a crucial part in promoting the country's development and modernization.
At the same time, Rutherfurd says he is confident that China's bond market will grow and mature and suggests that now is an appropriate time for reform of the banking system, given the country would be managing the process from a position of strength.
"We believe that China has the resources to continue to grow rapidly. If the financial system is reformed, and if the government continues to maintain a strong external financial position, then the financial sector will truly play a key role in fostering all Three Represents," Rutherfurd says in the Keynote Address delivered on his behalf by Andy Kimball, Moody's senior managing director, at the Euromoney Conference in Beijing on December 3, 2003.
The speech - entitled Capital Market Reform and the Three Represents - is also being released as a Moody's Special Comment.
Rutherfurd says the Chinese Communist Party has clearly staked its position in society on the Three Represents, which involve: developing advanced productive forces; orienting itself and the nation towards advanced cultural norms; and, aligning itself with the overwhelming interests of the majority of people in China.