SHANGHAI is exploring a cross-border wealth management program and will strengthen ties with other financial hubs such as London and New York, as it aims to become a global asset management center by 2025.

The plans, announced by Shanghai’s Lujiazui Financial City during a conference Wednesday, comes as China is tightening scrutiny of overseas listings in a move some say is designed to benefit the country’s own capital markets.

It also shows China is continuing to open up its financial markets, despite rising Sino-U.S. tensions and recent market volatility triggered by regulators’ crackdowns on tech firms and private tutoring companies.

During the meeting, attended by asset managers including BlackRock, Fidelity International and Franklin Templeton, Shanghai encouraged international players to participate in the city’s planned global financial assets exchange platform.

Several foreign financial institutions, including Charles Schwab and T Rowe Price Group, signed agreements to establish footholds in Lujiazui, Shanghai’s answer to Wall Street. More than 100 foreign asset managers have already opened offices or businesses in the district.

Shanghai did not give a time frame for its cross-border wealth management program or details on how it would work.

Other measures to boost Shanghai’s status as an asset management hub include launching a global asset management partnership (GAMP) program to facilitate industry cooperation. (SD-Agencies)