The government will help ensure the City is the "great global success story of the coming decade", Gordon Brown has pledged.

Speaking after the inaugural meeting of his 'City taskforce' with senior figures from London's square mile, the chancellor acknowledged the continuing success of the financial sector could not be taken for granted.

"The message that the City's success sends out to the whole British economy is that we will succeed if we think globally," he said.

"But we must not be complacent about that success."

Earlier on Wednesday Brown had published an article in the FT in which he pledged to provide a "light regulatory touch" and a "competitive tax environment" to aid businesses.

He wrote that the taskforce would ensure that London was "the great global success story of the coming decade."

Later this week, Conservative leader David Cameron is expected to try to woo businesses by launching a report from the party's tax review commission.

It has been reported the commission will recommend cutting corporation tax.

Brown wrote: "It is by working together - government consulting closely with business - that we will equip our economy with the skills, infrastructure incentives and underlying stability necessary to meet the challenges of intensified global competition."

He said the government's next steps would be to do more to open up trade, breaking down barriers in financial services and promoting them in new markets like China and India.

The new points-based migration system would be used to allow skilled foreign workers to come to the City, and would "encourage innovation and improve our skills base", Brown said.

And he added: "Our tax and regulatory framework must always be clear, transparent and competitive."