Program on Financial Risk Prevention and Crisis Management Held in the U.S.

Entrusted by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee， the CPAFFC sponsored the “Program on Financial Risk Prevention and Crisis Management” at Georgetown University from October 19 to November 11， 2009.

Following the success of the training course jointly organized by the CPAFFC and Georgetown University for young cadres of the former and its associated organizations in January 2009， this was a program designed for senior cadres. The Chinese delegation was headed by Liu Shiyu， Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China and included Tu Guangshao， Vice Mayor of Shanghai， Pan Yiyang， Secretary of the CPC Ganzhou Municipal Committee， Jiangxi Province， Song Hai， Deputy Governor of Guangdong Province， Zhuang Xinyi， Vice Chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission， Xie Duyang， Chief Supervisor of China Construction Bank， Hua Qingshan， Chief Supervisor of the Bank of Communications， and leaders of other departments of the central government， financial institutions and local governments， totalling 36 people.

The delegation went through a two-week study and inspection program at the GU， during which they also visited Los Angeles， Chicago and New York. The main topic was “Financial Risk Prevention and Crisis Management”， which was aimed at studying the root causes， development and scope of influence of the recent global financial crisis kindled by the American subprime crisis as well as the policies and measures taken by the US government to deal with the crisis， through which the participants would learn the lessons so as to better guide China’s financial work and economic development. The delegation members all agreed that the program was very timely， with high level perspectives， in-depth reviews to help widen the understanding of the participants.

Participants had discussions with American financial and real estate specialists about the subprime crisis， and visited the municipal governments of Los Angeles and Chicago and met with the mayors of the two cities， exchanged views on their development and their exchanges with Chinese cities. They visited the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Board Options Exchange， and studied the risks of financial derivatives and preventative measures. Brent Scowcroft， former US National Security Advisor， and J. Stapleton Roy， former US Ambassador to China， were invited to talk about their views on Sino-US relations. Carlos Miguel Gutierrez， former US Secretary of Commerce， gave a special lecture on the US international trade policies and the US-China trade relationship. Roy Bernardi， Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)， delivered a briefing on the measures taken by the government to ensure housing for low income households. Democratic Congressman Jim Moran and Republican Senator Jeffrey Wrase talked about the US financial and public policies. Ted Gayer， economic Advisor to the President， gave a lecture on “Evaluation of the US Government Market Rescue Policies”. Roy A. Bernardi spoke about housing policies and the operation mechanism of mortgage loans. Kevin M. Warsh， Governor of the Federal Reserve， and Ms. Alice Mitchell Rivlin， former Vice Chair of the Fed， introduced the working mechanism and market rescue plans of the organization. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation presented a briefing on the US deposit insurance system and its rescue strategy during the crisis. Senior economists of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank gave their views on the world economic situation. The delegation also made a study of the moves taken by the two of the World Top 500 companies and sponsors of the program， namely Caterpillar Inc. and Johnson Johnson Inc. during the financial crisis.

Most of the participants were leading members of Chinese government financial departments， major banks and State-owned enterprises with a higher education background and specialized knowledge. They made good use of this valuable opportunity to have a close and on-the-spot study of American conditions. They had in-depth discussions with government and private specialists of all circles in the U.S.， explored the root causes， evolution and influence of the subprime crisis which triggered the global economic downturn as well as the measures and polices adopted by the US government for rescue， so as to learn the lessons and useful experiences for guiding China’s financial work and economic development. After three weeks of study， all members of the delegation felt that they had deeper understanding of the policies and measures taken by the US Government in dealing with the financial crisis.