China a fast learner when it comes to artificial intelligence-powered fintech, experts say

The mainland’s private and public sectors are building on rapid advances in technology and readily available consumer data to develop unique applications for consumers and businesses

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China was the world’s second-biggest investor in AI enterprises last year. SCMP Graphics

Published: 7:30am, 28 Oct 2017Updated: 8:04pm, 28 Oct 2017

While US technology giants such as Google, Facebook and Apple race to dominate the growing commercial market for artificial intelligence (AI), China Inc is digging deep to create a broad-based platform for this technology to drive the country’s economic development.

That was the consensus drawn from keynotes and panel discussions on Thursday at Finnovasia, the part of Hong Kong Fintech Week focusing on the future of AI in finance.

Significant headway has been made on the mainland in AI, based on advances in computer-processing power, algorithms and data collection used by academic researchers and major internet companies such as Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and JD.com.

In July, the State Council laid out goals to build a domestic AI industry worth nearly US$150 billion in the next few years, and to make the mainland an “innovation centre” in this field by 2030.

“The US has better scientists doing research in AI … [But regarding] the union of AI and financial technology, China is leading and will continue to dominate in the future,” Chan Ka-keung, adjunct professor of finance at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said during a panel discussion on the mainland’s rise in AI.

Chan said China’s success was helped by consumers enthusiastically embracing new technology and how they had no issues about sharing relevant data with trusted service providers, such as those in online search, e-commerce and social media.