Advertisement
Fintech
BusinessBanking & Finance

Hong Kong has a huge role to play in supporting China’s fintech juggernaut, financial secretary Paul Chan says

  • Hong Kong, as the gateway to China and a rising regional fintech power, has much to offer and is poised to reap the rewards, says Paul Chan
  • China Fintech Report 2020, produced by SCMP Research, provides investment insights and in-depth analysis of how the sector is rapidly developing in the mainland

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Nearly 90 per cent of Chinese consumers use fintech to pay for almost everything in their daily lives. Photo: Shutterstock
Enoch Yiu

Hong Kong has a vital role to play in the development of financial technology in China as the country’s fintech giants including Alibaba Group Holding, Ant Group, Tencent Holdings and others have plenty of room to increase revenue at home and internationally, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.

“In a remarkably short time, China has become one of the largest fintech markets in the world,” Chan said in a statement to mark the release of the South China Morning Post’s China Fintech Report 2020. “As the mainland continues to expand its flourishing fintech sector, Hong Kong, as one of the world’s leading financial centres, the unique business gateway to the mainland and a rising regional fintech power, has much to offer and is poised to reap the rewards.”

The report, produced by SCMP Research and based on the Post’s reporting, provides investment insights and in-depth analysis of how digital payments, virtual banking, as well as online wealth management and insurance platforms are rapidly developing in China, which leads the world in the adoption of fintech.

Advertisement
With exclusive case studies on key industry players, the report also offers an overview of the funding activities of these tech giants, such as the upcoming dual IPO of Ant Group in Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as Lufax’s listing in New York this week.

China’s digital behemoth Ant Group is set to raise about US$34.5 billion this week in the world’s largest initial public offering, and valuing it more than JPMorgan Chase, the world’s biggest bank.

Advertisement

At home, the biggest driving force for the adoption of fintech is the pervasiveness of smartphones in China, where roughly one in every two of the 1.6 billion mobile phones in the world’s largest communication market is a device capable of data and internet services, the report said. Other major contributing factors include steadily rising incomes and significant scope to broaden access to credit, wealth management and insurance products.

Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x