Chinese securities regulators should be more open to help Shanghai achieve its 2020 goal of becoming a global financial center, Laura Cha, deputy chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, said yesterday.

As the Chinese currency remains non-convertible, allowing overseas firms to sell shares in Shanghai has become a key part of the city's strategy to become a global financial hub. The city has been gearing up to create an international board on its stock exchange for years.

"I can feel that Shanghai is very willing to launch the international board, but the securities regulator may have a different thinking," said Cha, a Shanghai Committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a former vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

"For an international hub you must have international products - those concerns that opening will affect national financial security are just overstated," Cha said during a panel discussion on Mayor Han Zheng's government work report yesterday.

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp's London-based parent, HSBC Holdings, has said it is "ready" to list shares in Shanghai.

Han yesterday pledged to increase the financial sector's role in advancing the city's economic and social development. Shanghai will continue to expand its financial markets and lure foreign companies to sell bonds and shares here "with great effort," he said.

Last month, Geng Liang, chairman of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, said the bourse had basically concluded its preparatory work for the launch of the international board.