In 2015 JD Finance recommended using the term "fintech" and in December of 2016 Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, coined "techfin"; the use of techfin showed Ant Financial's focus on building technology instead of products; the article explores whether the two concepts of fintech and techfin are actually different and the business models of JD Finance and Ant Financial. Source
China ranks top among 20 world markets in terms of fintech adoption, with 69% of surveyed consumer respondents saying they are actively using fintech services, 33 percentage points higher than the global average, according to a report by consultancy services provider EY; the report is based on more than 22,000 online interviews in 2017; around 64% of fintech users said they prefer using digital channels to manage "all aspects of their life"; money transfer and payment services are major drivers of the fast growth, said the report. Source
EEO.com has exposed 13 board member candidates of Wanglian (or Nets Union), China's newly established centralized clearinghouse for third party payments: Lai Zhiming (Tencent VP), Wang Zuogang (Alipay Director) and Ma Ji (JD Finance VP) are on the list, among other executives from People's Bank of China and its affiliated organizations. Source (Chinese)
Lend Academy talks with Greg Gibb, CEO and co-chairman of Lufax; Greg Gibb talks about the founding of the business as a P2P platform, its relationship with Ping An and how it has evolved to become a broader provider of wealth management product offerings; the podcast interview also discusses Lufax's future plans for international expansion and a potential IPO. Source
In guidelines released on its website, China said it would restrict overseas investment in sectors such as property, hotels, cinema, entertainment and sports teams; the announcement comes as Beijing is supporting overseas technology and initiatives such as the massive global infrastructure investment plan One Belt, One Road; specific industries under close watch include Hollywood entertainment, the hotel industry and foreign insurance investments; overall, the efforts from the Chinese government are another step in reigning in foreign investment and supporting economic development. Source
Bitkan, a China-based bitcoin-focused data and trading services provider, has released the trailer of the first Chinese bitcoin documentary, "Shape the Future"; the documentary will provide a panoramic view of the development of the bitcoin and blockchain ecosystem in China, the country with the number one hashrate in the bitcoin realm. Source
Fosun Group has invested in Shanghai Distributed Technologies (SDT); the amount was in the tens of millions of yuan; SDT works on blockchain with financial firms and has a joint venture with the Guiyang city government to develop blockchain-based systems for public services; SDT is a startup behind Onchain, which is founded by Da Hongfei, one of the earliest blockchain participants in China. Source
Global Times recently comments on China's unregulated internet finance sector, stating that the online finance market requires cooling through tighter regulation after years of explosive but unruly growth; due to the lack of regulation, internet finance is often associated with financial irregularities, with many players operating without obtaining any license, for one; Global Times believes only a regulated internet finance industry can serve the real economy, and that chaotic development of internet finance will only pose risks to the country's financial stability. Source
Ping An Insurance Group's online lender Lufax reported that it is now profitable and is hoping to keep that trend for the rest of the year; "Lufax's development is extremely robust. It actually turned around in the first half. We are very confident that it could stay profitable for the full-year," said Jessica Tan Sin-Yin, Ping An's chief operating officer and chief information officer, during the Chinese insurance group's earnings announcement; Lufax is the largest P2P lending platform in China with $225 billion of outstanding loans; according to their latest funding round in January the company is valued at $18.5 billion with 43% being held by Ping An; the company is planning to go public soon and according to CEO Gregory Gibb they have done a lot of homework for Hong Kong ahead of the potential listing. Source
Bloomberg and Quartz have recently been granted access to one of the largest bitcoin mines in the world operated by Bitmain; this Bitmain mine generates about a quarter of a million dollars a day worth of bitcoin; Bitmain's valuation is in the billions and the company is preparing for a possible IPO; Bitmain is also investing in an expansion to US. Source