Queen Máxima to visit China to discuss access to financial services

From Monday 24 November to Friday 28 November, Her Majesty Queen Máxima will visit China in her capacity as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. China is taking various measures to improve access to financial services, so as to provide greater opportunities for low-income groups and small-scale farms and businesses.

The Queen is visiting China at the invitation of the Chinese government. The UN believes the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), and the national banking regulator, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), can play a key role in improving Chinese access to financial services. The PBOC is developing a national plan for inclusive finance.

On the Queen’s agenda are meetings with Chinese President Xi Jingping, PBOC governor Zhou Xiaochuan and representatives of the CBRC and various financial institutions. The Queen will also deliver a speech to students at Peking University’s National School of Development and visit farming and SME financing projects near the capital. She will also meet representatives of Chinese internet businesses to see how they can help improve people’s access to financial services.

Queen Máxima was appointed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development in September 2009. In this capacity, she advises the Secretary-General and works worldwide to make financial services accessible to all, including low-income groups and SMEs. The Queen has also been honorary chair of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) since July 2011.