A new report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) points to the potential for new technologies to improve levels of financial inclusion.
The “Report on Finance Servicing the Real Economy from a Fintech Perspective” (金融科技视角下金融服务实体经济报告) claims that the broad application of new technologies including big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence is currently driving the rapid growth of financial inclusion in China.
The report, which was released in Beijing on 25 August, was prepared by CASS’s Institute of Finance and Banking (IFB) in collaboration with the National Institute for Finance & Development and New York-listed Chinese fintech company Yirendai.
According to the report fintech has already emerged as a major driver of sustainable economic development, effectively reducing financial servicing costs, providing personalised financial services, while raising the quality of financial service as well as financial inclusion capability.
The report highlights the rapid growth of China’s non-bank payments sector and online insurance operations; the formation of a rich third party payments ecosystem and industry chain, and accelerating growth in new forms of financial cooperation.
Crowdfunding is on track to see new development opportunities in China as laws and regulations are further refined, while the smart investment advisory sector is also seeing rapid growth.
With regard to financial inclusion, the report said that fintech is directing more resources to key areas of development for the real economy by removing information asymmetries, reducing financial servicing costs and spurring growth.
The report said that raising financial service efficiency, innovating financial service models, servicing the real economy and raising the inclusiveness of financial services should be the focus for Chinese fintech in future.
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