China’s Role as Global Fintech Leader Will Support Future Growth: IMF

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The latest annual assessment of China’s economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the country’s role a global leader in new digital industries will lend support to future growth.

The IMF’s 2018 Article IV Consultation for China says that the country has emerged as a “global digital leader” with 733 million internet users in total.

The report further points out that China is host to 282 million digital natives, referring to internet users under 25 years of age, who are readily capable of adopting new technologies.

“The massive scale of the Chinese market and a supportive regulatory and supervisory environment in the early years of digitisation made China a global leader in frontier industries such as e-commerce and fintech,” said the IMF in a press release.

According to the IMF this leading role in digital industries will provide critical support to China’s economic growth in years to come.

“Digitalization will continue to reshape the Chinese economy by improving efficiency, softening – but not reversing- slowing growth as the economy mature.”

Data from the World Bank indicates that China is currently host to 733 million internet users, 1.8 times the number in the EU (413 million) as well as three times the number in the United States (243 million).