Tech giant Tencent has made explicit its eagerness to cooperate closely with Chinese regulators following a sharp tightening in regulation of the fintech sector.
At the release of its Q4 performance results on 24 March Tencent said that the strategic focus for its fintech operations is “active cooperation with regulatory agencies,” as well as “launching compliant and inclusive fintech products with cooperative partners.”
Tencent also said that it would prioritise consideration of risk management when conducting its fintech operations, as opposed to the pursuit of growth in scale.
In the fourth quarter of 2020 Tencent’s fintech and enterprise services revenues were 38.5 billion yuan, for a YoY rise of 29%.
Full year fintech and enterprise service revenues in 2020 were 128.1 billion yuan, for a YoY rise of 26%.
Tencent’s operating revenues for the fourth quarter were 133.67 billion yuan, as compared to market forecasts of 133.07 billion yuan, while full year operating revenues were 482.064 billion yuan, as compared to market forecasts of 480.401 billion yuan, and full year operating revenues of 377.289 billion yuan in 2019.
Tencent’s full year net profits for 2020 were 159.85 billion yuan, as compared to market forecasts of 130.71 billion yuan.
Chinese regulators have heightened their regulation of the online finance and fintech sectors over the past six months, following the launch of new rules for online micro-lending at the start of November.
Ant Group has been one of the main targets of regulatory scrutiny, with Chinese authorities scuppering its dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai that was scheduled for early November, and subsequently requiring that it return to its original focus on payments as well as convert into a financial holding company.
