SHANGHAI Party Secretary Han Zheng met senior executives of the New Development Bank shortly after the bank was officially launched in the city yesterday.

Set up by the five BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, The NDB is the first international organization to set up its headquarters in Shanghai. Its five stakeholders represent 21 percent of the world’s GDP and 40 percent of the world’s foreign exchange reserves.

Han said that Shanghai has many financial institutions and the financial sector is a key driver of the city’s economy. Shanghai is building itself into an international center of economy, finance, shipping and trade. He added that Shanghai is doing all it can to serve the New Development Bank.