Beijing would bring forward its commitment to allow new foreign joint venture brokerages to enter the local market this year, said Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, at the end of a two-day visit to China.

Mr Paulson met Hu Jintao, China’s president, and ministers with economic and finance portfolios during which he said he argued that further liberalisation of the financial sector would benefit China’s economy. “For the life of me, I cannot understand why China letting in strong foreign firms, which are regulated by the Chinese, would undermine stability. It would help stability,” he said.