| ABOC | Agricultural Bank of China |
| ABS | asset-backed security |
| ACWI | All Country World Index |
| ADB | Asian Development Bank |
| ADBC | Agricultural Development Bank of China |
| AEI | American Enterprise Institute |
| AIIB | Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank |
| APs | authorised participants |
| ASEAN | Association of Southeast Asian Nations |
| BA | Bangkok Agreement |
| BOC | Bank of China |
| BRI | Belt and Road Initiative |
| BRIICS | Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China, and South Africa |
| BWEI | Bloomberg World Equity Index |
| CBRC | China Banking Regulatory Commission |
| CCB | China Construction Bank |
| CCP | centralised clearing counter-party |
| CCR | capital conservation buffer |
| CDB | China Development Bank |
| CDS | credit default swap |
| CET | common equity tier |
| CFTC | US Commodity Futures Trading Commission |
| CIRC | China Insurance Regulatory Commission |
| CO2 | carbon dioxide |
| CNOOC | China National Offshore Oil Corporation |
| CNPC | China National Petroleum Corporation |
| COK | cost of capital |
| CPC | Communist Party of China |
| CSRC | China Securities and Regulatory Commission |
| CTG | China Three Gorges Corporation |
| DRC | Development Research Centre |
| DTD | distance-to-default |
| ECB | European Central Bank |
| ECO | Economic Co-operation Organisation |
| ECSI | European Convention on State Immunity |
| ECT | energy charter treaty |
| EECA | Eastern Europe and Central Asia |
| EIA | environmental impact assessments |
| EMIR | European Market Infrastructure Regulation |
| ETF | exchange traded fund |
| EU | European Union |
| ExIm | China Import-Export Bank |
| FDI | foreign direct investment |
| FED | United States Federal Reserve |
| FSIA | US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act |
| FSB | Financial Stability Board |
| FTSE | Financial Times Stock Exchange |
| G-SIBs | globally systemic important banks |
| G20 | Group of 20 (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, United States and the European Union) |
| GDP | gross domestic product |
| GICS | Global Industry Classification Standard |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| G-SIB | globally systemically important banks |
| HBIS | Hebei Iron and Steel Group |
| HLAR | higher loss absorbing requirement |
| IBES | Institutional Brokers' Estimate System |
| ICBC | Industrial and Commercial Bank of China |
| IFSWF | International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds |
| IMF | International Monetary Fund |
| IRB | internal ratings-based |
| IWG | International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds |
| LR | leverage ratio |
| LSAP | large scale asset purchases |
| LTV | loan-to-value |
| MDB | multilateral development bank |
| MENA | Middle East and North Africa |
| MFA | Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| MMIMO | Massive-Multiple-In-Multiple-Out |
| MMMF | money market mutual funds |
| MOFCOM | Ministry of Commerce (also MofCom) |
| MPA | macro-prudential assessment |
| NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement |
| NCP | National Contact Point (agencies established by adhering governments to promote and implement the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises) |
| NDRC | National Development and Reform Commission |
| NPL | non-performing loans |
| OECD | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| OTC | over-the-counter |
| PBoC | Peoples Bank of China |
| PE | price-to-earnings and private equity |
| PP | private placement |
| PPP | public-private partnership |
| QE | quantitative easing |
| R&D | research and development |
| RBC | responsible business conduct |
| RFE | relative factor endowment variable |
| ROE | return on equity |
| RWA | risk-weighted asset |
| S&P 500 | Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index |
| SAARC | South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation |
| SDGs | Sustainable Development Goals |
| SEA | Strategic Environmental Assessment |
| SEC | Securities and Exchange Commission |
| SEZ | special economic zone |
| SIM | similarity index |
| SOE | state-owned enterprise |
| SWF | sovereign wealth fund |
| TALF | Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility |
| TARP | Troubled Asset Relief Program |
| TBTF | too big to fail |
| TLAC | total loss absorbing capacity |
| TRNC | Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus |
| UHV | ultra-high voltage |
| UNCTAD | United Nations Conference on Trade and Development |
| WGB | OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions |
| WMP | wealth management products |
| WTO | World Trade Organization |