The International Finance Forum (IFF)has developed itself into an independent and non-governmental international organisation. Based in Beijing, it has become a regular platform for high-level dialogue, exchange and research in the global financial realm and has attracted increasing attention of the financial and other sectors.
Since its establishment,IFF has been holding its annual meeting to analyse and address economic and financial issues facing China and the world.The annual meeting has become a major event in the financial realm worldwide,and has been upgraded to F20 status. Previous events invited hundreds of global political, economic andfinancial leaders, including Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, the U.N.Secretary-General; Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia; Jean-Claude Trichet, former president of the European Central Bank; Yukio Hatoyama, former prime minister of Japan; HRH prince Turki BinAbdullah Bin Abdulaziz;Tony Blair, former prime minister of GreatBritain and Northern Ireland;Jenny Shipley,former prime minister of New Zealand; Han Seung-soo,former prime minister of the Republicof Korea; Paul Volcker, former Fed chairman;Supachai Panitchpakdi, former secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; Christine Lagarde, former managing director of theInternational Monetary Fund; Jaime Caruana, former general manager of the Bank for International Settlements.
All these meetings achieved remarkable results. The solutions and suggestions that experts introduced at the meetings have had significant influences in the international financial field, and have become important references for formulating economic and financial policies. China’s national leaders including Xi Jinping, Wen Jiabao, Wang Qishan have also met with the guests during the meeting.
The International Finance Forum (IFF) Annual Meeting has become a “high level, high-end and international” financial summit, and hence, is well known as the F20.
High Level – International speakers mainly consist of senior executives of international organisations or institutions. Domestic speakers are heads from financial regulation entities and financial institutions.
High-end – China’s financial reform, particularly the reform of state-owned banks, is also deepening. The themes and the speeches delivered by conference guests at the annual meetings have represented the highest level of insights and opinions on global financial situation and other key issues.
International – IFF's international nature lies in its high-level dialogue mechanism of the annual meetings, which makes it stand out among similar events. The annual meeting attracts hundreds of global political, economic, and financial leaders gathering in China to explore new drivers of growth.
Ban Ki-moon, the 8th U.N. Secretary-General, once praised the valuable contributions of the International Finance Forum (IFF) to global policy dialogues that rebuild the essence of finance through timely discussion.
Jean-Claude Trichet, former president of the European Central Bank, honorary chairman of G30, and chairman of the European Group of the Trilateral Commission, spoke very highly of the role of IFF since its establishment, and pointed out that IFF has always adhered to the mission of “Comprehensive and Sustainable Development – New Capital, New Value, New World”. He said that this spirit is in line with the development trend of new global economic and financial pattern.
Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve and former chairman of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, also affirmed that IFF is an important platform that promotes international financial cooperation and development, “I hope IFF would continuously carry forward its important mission".