Leaders sound off on fintech and digital economy

During the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2022, which took place from Nov 21-23 in Beijing's Xicheng district, participants from home and abroad shared their insights on trends in financial technology and their solutions for fintech's integrated development with the digital economy.

China is among the top countries around the world for fintech, especially in mobile payment and digital credit. Both have seen remarkable achievements, according to Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, who made the comments at a parallel forum themed on fintech and digital economy.

With focuses on digital technologies and data resources, the financial supply-side structural reform should be further deepened to create a modern financial system that is matched with the growth of the digital economy, he said.

Pan's remark was echoed by Li Chao, vice-chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission. Li said in his speech that developing digital economy is a national strategy. "New digitized models based on technologies and data are increasingly becoming key drivers for the economy's high-quality development."

In addition to digital transformation, Pan pointed out some major tasks for the future development of fintech.

Banks must alleviate information asymmetry between them and enterprises with the help of technologies, and better address small and micro-sized enterprises' financing problems, Pan said.

He also called on authorities to utilize information technologies to expand financial services channels and reduce service costs.

Financial services should be more inclusive and accessible, bringing benefits to more people, Pan added.

Jin Wei, vice-mayor of Beijing, showcased the city's achievements in fintech at the forum.

Beijing has built the country's only national-level fintech innovation demonstration zone, according to Jin.

He added it is also the first city in China to publish provincial-level guidance and planning for the innovative development of fintech.

The capital will make sustained efforts in the coming years to achieve technological breakthroughs and create more application scenarios for fintech, he said.

"We will support and cultivate more entities in the digital finance industry while pushing forward financial institutions' digital transformation and helping leading enterprises set up their digital finance branches in Beijing," Jin said.

Jin also attended the parallel forum on boosting the high-quality development of the capital market with fintech.

On the premise of conformity with regulations, service institutions of the capital market should be encouraged to offer application scenarios for fintech companies to spur the digital transformation of the entire market, Li Wenhong, director of the Beijing Bureau Local Financial Regulation and Supervision, said at the forum.

Wang Sheng, president of China Galaxy Securities, suggested improving the cross-industry cooperation mechanism and providing incentive programs and fault-tolerance programs to better implement fintech pilot projects.

Foreign representatives including corporate leaders and heads of international organizations shared their perspectives on global fintech development and technological cooperation at another parallel forum held on Tuesday.

Han Seung-soo, co-chairman of the International Finance Forum, called for a safe, sustainable, and inclusive global fintech system to cope with financial security risks and other challenges.

Han suggested the international community establish supportive policies on fintech and strengthen related research, technological development and cooperation.

Han added that it is essential to build an open and effective channel of communication among financial institutions, fintech companies and consumers.

Lee Kuo Chuen, a professor of fintech and blockchain at Singapore University of Social Sciences, shared the country's experience of ensuring the security and efficiency of cross-border settlement.

Rhys Gordon-Jones, counselor for financial and professional services at the United Kingdom's embassy in China, also introduced that country's practices in creating favorable environment for fintech firms.

"Although capital, talents and technologies are very important, it still needs a friendly regulatory environment for a prospering fintech industry," he said.

The Global Fintech Hub Report 2022 was released at the forum, which evaluated and ranked 50 cities across the globe. Beijing has topped the list for four consecutive years, followed by San Francisco and New York in the United States this year.

From January to September, Beijing's digital economy maintained strong growth momentum, with its added value up 3.9 percent year-on-year and contributing 42.7 percent of the city's GDP.