Insurance to futures, China's $45 trn finance industry is set to open up

President Xi Jinping is seeking to cushion the world's No. 2 economy against the steepest slowdown since the early 1990s

China’s big bang opening of its $45 trillion financial industry begins in earnest next year -- a step-by-step affair that’s unfolding just as economic strains threaten the promised windfall luring in global firms.

Starting with its insurance and futures markets, the Communist Party ruled nation will enact the most sweeping changes in decades to allow the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and BlackRock Inc. to expand their footprint in China and compete for a slice of its growing wealth.

President Xi Jinping is seeking to cushion the world’s No. 2 economy against the steepest slowdown since the