On September 5, 2022, SAIF Think Tank and the CAFR- FinVolution Joint Research Laboratory at SJTU jointly held a seminar on Investment and Financing Trends in China’s Fintech Industry. Professor Guangshao Tu (Member of the CPPCC, Executive Director of the SAIF Board) and Ping Ge (Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau) attended the seminar. The seminar was presided over by Professor Feng Li (Professor of Accounting, Associate Director of CAFR, Co-Director of SAIFR).
Professor Tu pointed out that the development of digital finance and fintech has had a profound impact on financial systems, markets, and institutions — with a series of system construction and policy initiatives being put forward by relevant national departments. Currently, the construction of Shanghai as an International Financial Center has entered the “Version 3.0” stage. Shanghai has also proposed an implementation plan of building itself as a Global FinTech Center during the 14th Five-Year Plan to make Shanghai a pilot zone for: fintech research, innovation and application, industry concentration, talent gathering, standards formation, and supervision innovation. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop research and analysis on digital finance and fintech.
Ping Ge said that Shanghai is promoting strategic deployment for the city's digital transformation, such as: the application of big data for finance, a capital market fintech innovation pilot project, a digital currency electronic payment pilot project, and a local financial supervision information platform. Shanghai is at the forefront of the national pilot project for digital currency electronic payments, and has made significant breakthroughs in the core assessment such as the number of transactions and application scenarios.
In the discussion session, scholars and experts from different institutions expressed their views on the state of current investment and financing in both the domestic and international fintech industries, and the future regulation of the industry. They included: Jiandong Shi (Director of Science and Technology Division, Financial Services Department II, People’s Bank of China Shanghai Headquarters), Bin Liu (Director of Financial Research Department, Institute of Shanghai Pudong Reform and Development), Suyang Zhang (Managing Partner of Shanghai Volcanics Venture), Hua Chen (President of Shanghai Guoxin Venture), Ye Zhou (Alumnus of the first GES class, President and CEO of HuiPay Payment), Daquan Yang (Alumnus of the second EMBA class, Vice President of Shanghai Jiemian Network Technology), Min Qi (Vice President of Shanghai IceKredit), Xiaochun Liu (Vice President of CAFR), and Jie Hu (Professor of Practice at SAIF).
In the future, SAIF Think Tank will further focus on three major research areas, namely “Shanghai International Financial Center Construction”, “International Finance”, and “Fintech”. To better serve the construction of Shanghai International Financial Center, SAIF endeavors to give an academic interpretation of major policies and focused events, and conduct high-level seminars in economic and financial fields.
