On March 28, 2024, the Financial Seminar Series [21] organized by the Faculty of Finance at the City University of Macau was held at the Ho Yin Convention Centre on Taipa Campus. The event featured Ms. Shi Si, Director of the Global Advanced Corporate Finance Center and Head of Innovation and Products Management Division of the Global Corporate and Investment Banking Department at Bank of China (BOC) Macau Branch, as the keynote speaker. Her presentation was titled "The Logic and Value of Cross-border Finance: A Path to Financial Practice." Guests attending this seminar include Ms. Christine Ho, Product Manager of the Personal Banking and Channel Management Department of Bank of China Macau Branch, and Ms. Cheng I Kam, Junior Product Manager of Bank of China Macau Branch, Dean Adrian Cheung and Associate Dean Eva Khong of the Faculty of Finance, City University of Macau.

Ms. Shi Si currently serves as the Director of the Global Advanced Corporate Finance Center and Head of Innovation and Products Management Division of the Global Corporate and Investment Banking Department at Bank of China Macau Branch. She graduated from Zhejiang University in 2012 and later obtained degrees from the University of Macau, Catholic University of Portugal, and the University of Lisbon in 2015. She joined Bank of China in 2015 and played a significant role in establishing the Global Advanced Corporate Finance Center at the headquarters level in Macao in 2019. In 2021, she was responsible for the establishment of the "Belt and Road" and Portuguese-speaking countries business development coordination committee. In 2023, she initiated the mechanism for the development center of key regional businesses.

With her extensive experience in finance and profound theoretical knowledge, Ms. Shi unveiled the operational mechanisms of the financial market and the unique allure of cross-border finance to the students of City University of Macau. Starting from the core concepts of finance, she elaborated on the importance of finance as a tool for value exchange across time and space, highlighting its crucial role in future pricing and risk management. Ms. Si also pointed out that the development of financial transactions relies on credit support and the institutional basis that ensures the execution of financial contracts.

During the seminar, Ms. Shi analyzed Macao's unique position and potential in the field of cross-border finance by combining its economic characteristics and business advantages. As an international trade and investment hub, Macao boasts an open trade and investment environment, free port policies and market-based economic system, stable financial regulatory environment, among other advantages, providing favorable conditions for the development of cross-border financial services. She specifically mentioned Macao's significant role as a platform for Sino-Portuguese commercial cooperation and its active role in the process of regional economic integration.

Furthermore, Ms. Shi introduced the historical evolution of Bank of China (Macau) and its advantages in cross-border financial services, demonstrating the bank's leading position in the market and its wide range of business operations. As one of the largest and most diversified overseas branches of Bank of China, acting as the note-issuing bank, and the agent bank for the public treasury, the bank is also the chairman bank of the Macao Association of Banks and the clearing bank for Hong Kong Dollar, USD Dollar, and RMB, holding important social positions, a number of its employees are members of the Economic Development Council of Macao Special Administrative Region and the Advisory Council of the Monetary Authority of Macao. BOC Macau was awarded the "Honorable Medal of Silver Lotus Flower" by the Macao SAR government in 2020, the highest honor awarded by the Macao SAR Government to enterprises so far. As an important overseas branch of Bank of China, its outstanding performance in cross-border financial services has enriched the development of Macao's financial industry.

Ms. Shi's speech explains complicated subject matters in simple terms, making abstract financial concepts vivid and understandable through the combination of theory and practical cases. The audiences expressed that the seminar deepened their understanding of cross-border finance and filled them with anticipation for the financial development prospects of Macao. After the seminar, they actively sought advice from Ms. Shi and engaged in in-depth discussions on the trends in financial market development and innovations in cross-border financial services. Ms. Shi patiently answered their questions, shared her insights, and offered advice. This seminar not only provided a rare opportunity for the faculty and students to understand cross-border finance but also injected new vitality into the development of Macao's financial industry. In future financial practices, students will be able to apply their acquired knowledge better, contributing more significantly to the development of Macao's and even the global financial industry.