The CBIRC and PBC Jointly Release 2019 China Inclusive Finance Development Report
On September 29th, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) and the People’s Bank of China (PBC) jointly released the “2019 China Inclusive Finance Development Report ” (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”). China has made substantial progress in promoting financial inclusion over the past decade through a series of measures, including:
1) Deepening inclusive financial system reform
2) Keeping innovating in inclusive financial technologies and products
3) Allowing capital market to help broaden financing channels
4) Strengthening the construction of credit information system and sharing platform to alleviate financing difficulties caused by information gap
5) Improving the construction of guarantee and credit enhancement systems and mechanisms at the national and regional levels to promote effective risk sharing
6) Implementing differentiated inclusive financial supervision
7) Providing more policy incentives, such as tax reductions & exemptions for loans in the inclusive finance sector
8) Studying and revising legal frameworks for inclusive finance regulation
9) Stepping efforts to increase consumer financial literacy and consumer protection
(Source: CBIRC)
Technology-as-a-Service Platform OneConnect Reported to be Listed in the US in Mid-November
There have been reports that the technology-as-a-service platform OneConnect is planning to be listed in the US and has sent its application to SEC. However, OneConnect has not made any comment on this issue.
Established in 2015, OneConnect is an associate of Ping An Group, and part of the Ping An 3.0 open platform strategy.
According to the Hurun Unicorn List 2018, OneConnect has reached a market value of RMB 50 billion.
In May 2019, HKMA issued a virtual banking license to PingAn OneConnect, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of OneConnect.
As of the end of June 2019, OneConnect has provided services for 3707 financial institutions in China, including 615 banks and 81 insurance agencies. (Source: National Business Daily )
Sina to Offer Life Insurance Service
On September 20th, a notice from STO Express caused significant attention from the market. According to the announcement, STO Express, Micro Dream (the operator of Sina Weibo) and other three companies are going to co-launch a life insurance company. Provisionally known as Sina Insurance, the company is said to have RMB 1.5 billion registered capital and will be registered in China’s national insurance pilot zone-Ningbo.
Sina Insurance plans to offer a series of insurance services and products, including life insurance, annuity insurance, health insurance, casualty insurance, re-insurance and other insurance fund management business authorized by China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. (Source: eeo.com)
Exchange Rate Query Platform xCurrency Secures Tens of Millions of Yuan A round Investment
On September 25th, exchange rate query platform xCurrency secured tens of millions of yuan A round financing. The investment was led by InCapital and Oriental Fortune Capital’s SME Development Fund, followed by existing investor 51CreditCard.com. According to xCurrency, the capital will be used for recruitment, business expansion, and technology upgrades. xCurrency offers exchange rate query among 210 fiat currencies, 160 cryptocurrencies and noble metals. Established in 2015, xCurrency has achieved more than 80 million app downloads and attracted registered users from over 160 countries, helping solve the currency exchange problems confronted in overseas travelling, studying and consumption. Apart from serving individual users, xCurrency has also started to march into the B2B market. At present, it has built cooperation with Samsung, China Mobile and 51CreditCard.com, trying to be a basic service module of enterprise eco-system. (Source: lieyun)
China’s First Fintech Certification Training Course Held in Shenzhen
On September 28th, the opening ceremony of the first fintech certification training course, sponsored by the China Banking Association, was held in Shenzhen. The China Fintech Technician (CFT) certification project was jointly developed by the China Banking Association, CCB University, Shenzhen University, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The course focus on how the five key parts of fintech industry, namely ABCDI (artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, cloud computing and Internet) could offer application and solutions for banking institutions. (Source: China Securities Journal)
The above is a weekly synopsis of the biggest stories on Fintech in China provided by WeiyangX, part of Tsinghua University, in partnership with Crowdfund Insider.
WeiyangX is the most influential website focusing on Fintech in China. The site covers the latest news, industry data analysis, business practices, and in-depth Fintech cases in Fintech. WeiyangX is incubated by Fintech Lab. Founded by Tsinghua University’s People’s Bank of China (PBC) School of Finance in 2012, the Fintech Lab is the first and leading research entity dedicated to leading best practices, promoting interdisciplinary innovation, and encouraging entrepreneurship in the field of fintech through scientific research and innovative project incubation.
