When Richard Thornburgh became the first chairman of the Securities Industry Association to speak in China last week, it highlighted a couple of trends. The most obvious is the enormous potential of the Chinese economy, and the importance of the securities markets in realizing that potential. As Mr. Thornburgh said in his presentation in Shanghai, "By incorporating the lessons learned...from established markets like London, New York and Hong Kong, China can create the liquid, deep and transparent capital markets that will drive the country's long-term economic growth."

That follows the news late last month that China's regulators-after years of discussions-are moving forward with plans to establish a small-cap exchange in Shenzhen to complement Shanghai's big board. And, in another example of the country's rapid market expansion, the Minstry of Labor and Social Security is opening the door for pension providers to service an eagerly awaited new type of pension fund called an enterprise annuity (for more on that story, please turn to page 9).

Interestingly enough, Securities Industry News has established its own foothold in China, as Maria Trombly, our technology correspondent, recently took up residence in Shanghai. While she will continue to provide regular coverage of the many key tech issues affecting the industry-from e-mail/instant messaging to Linux to Web services-she will increasingly be wearing the hat of Asia correspondent for us. In that role, she will obviously be spending a great deal of time reporting on the development of the infrastructure, institutions and services needed to support China's rapidly evolving securities markets. As an example, Maria will soon have a first look at the next frontier for financial services outsourcing. Where might that be? You guessed it: China. And as a new economic giant awakens, we're thrilled that SIN--and, by extension, its readers--will be there.

We're also eager to hear from any of those same readers about their plans--or questions--regarding China. As many firms and vendors move into the market, or contemplate such a move, we'd like to keep abreast of their plans. Maria can be reached at maria@trombly.com.

We're certainly not confining our coverage of the region to China. Maria will be looking at a number of markets in Asia and the Middle East, as many of the area's economies face the same issues--regulatory harmonization, automation and straight-through processing-as some of their more established brethren to the West.

Our readers have also benefited over the last couple of years from the contributions of our Asia-Pacific correspondent, Gary Maller, who reports from Australia. Look for more regional coverage from him in the weeks ahead--including reports from next month's Securities & Derivatives Industry Association annual conference in Melbourne.

A bit closer to home, Clive Davidson continues to serve as our U.K. correspondent, a role he has ably filled for many years now. Clive's next major project involves covering the TradeTech 2004 conference in Paris later this month, where SIN is serving as an official publication. Adding further depth to our U.K. and European coverage, we recently brought onboard Richard Northedge. Based in London, Richard will be contributing primarily to our Comment and Front End sections of the paper.

All this calls to mind another key idea highlighted by Mr. Thornburgh's speech: that our industry is truly global. All markets are interconnected today, and many are confronting similar challenges. As we're reminded on a daily basis, now more than ever, events on the other side of the world affect us directly or indirectly. For a publication to cover the U.S. securities industry alone, and not the international markets, would be akin to covering, say, baseball and only reporting on the National League. That's simply not the complete picture.

At Securities Industry News, we've always prided itself on our international coverage. Due in large part to the tireless dedication and encyclopedic knowledge of our longtime senior international editor, Chris Kentouris, we have for years covered the world in great depth from our New York newsroom. Now, with a few more boots on the ground, our international reach is being extended even further. And that global perspective will enable our readers to glimpse many firsts--like an SIA chairman in China--in the years to come.