Finansinspektionen, Sweden's all-in-one financial regulator, has signed a new memorandum of understanding with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The agreement was signed by Deputy Director-General Martin Noréus and CBIRC's Deputy Chairman Liang Tao. The CBIRC was formally unveiled in Beijing on 8 April last year, marking the official launch of the new regulatory authority into operation. Its aim is to reform and 'open up' the banking and insurance sectors to foreigners.

Finansinspektionen previously signed an agreement with the Chinese banking authority in 2014, but since China has now merged the country's banking and insurance regulators into one, Finansinspektionen has now had to sign an agreement with the new authority.

The agreement, which is not legally binding, regulates the way in which Sweden and China co-operate in the supervision of Swedish banks and insurance companies active in China and vice versa. Finansinspektionen has similar co-operative agreements with several other countries' supervisory authorities.