Focusing on FinTech Empowering Financial Services to the Real Economy
On December 9, the fifth Shanghai International Forum on Financial Technology took place in Hongkou District. Organized by the Shanghai Financial Technology Industry Alliance and specially supported by the People's Government of Hongkou District, the forum comprehensively implemented the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the central financial work conference. It focused on FinTech services for the real economy, cutting-edge technology applications, talent development, and intelligent finance. The forum also addressed hot topics such as digital transformation and artificial intelligence models, aiming to explore practical directions for FinTech in aiding high-quality development of the real economy and technological innovation. The forum showcased outstanding achievements in FinTech and promoted industry exchange, contributing to national and Shanghai strategies, and supporting Shanghai's development as a globally influential FinTech center.
Wang Ping, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, attended and spoke at the forum. Leaders, experts, and scholars from government departments, financial markets, financial institutions, technology companies, universities, and research institutes gathered to discuss the theme Innovation-Driven, Integrated Development - FinTech Empowering Financial Services to the Real Economy.
At the main forum, the People's Government of Hongkou District and Shanghai International Group signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. Li Qian, Secretary of the District Party Committee, Yu Beihua, Chairman of Shanghai International Group Limited, Lu Ming, Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee and District Governor, and Liu Xinyi, President of Shanghai International Group Limited, witnessed the signing. Deputy District Governor Chen Shuai and Zhou Lei, Vice President of Shanghai International Group Limited, represented the two sides in the signing. The two sides will deepen district-enterprise cooperation, accelerate the construction of the Shanghai Financial Technology Center, and promote the development of financial technology industrial parks, fostering the clustering and development of the financial industry.
The forum also launched a series of significant initiatives for building the Shanghai Financial Technology Center. Ge Ping, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau, and Jiang Wei, Director of the Second Department of Financial Services of the People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office, announced the finalists for the 2023 Shanghai Financial Technology Excellent Application Scenarios and Solutions. A total of 122 outstanding achievements were shortlisted, focusing on digital infrastructure, high-level openness, new generation artificial intelligence, inclusive services, risk control, and anti-fraud.
The Dongzheng Futures Cup' First Shanghai University Financial Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was launched by Ge Ping, Sun Zhenrong, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Education Commission, and Zhao Jian, Chief Engineer of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission. The competition will help Shanghai's FinTech industry explore and discover a group of high-quality composite talents and potential FinTech projects, leverage the support and collaborative role of Shanghai's FinTech talent cultivation training base, and have opportunities to collaborate in talent cultivation, business technology training, transformation and incubation, promoting the construction of Shanghai's FinTech talent highland.
The Shanghai Financial Technology Industry Alliance released the Global Financial Technology Center Development Index, supported academically by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. The index assesses the development level, potential, and environment of FinTech and provides a comprehensive understanding of the development status and trends of global city FinTech for managers, investors, and observers.
The fourth consecutive Shanghai Financial Technology Development White Paper (2022) was published, supported academically by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Advanced Institute of Finance. It assesses Shanghai's FinTech development, updates industry data and cases, and reflects major achievements in FinTech research and practice in 2022. Through vertical comparison with previous years' data, the development trend of the FinTech industry was systematically analyzed, providing valuable decision-making and research references for regulatory authorities, financial institutions, and academic researchers.
The forum also hosted a signing ceremony for three School-Enterprise Joint Laboratories, including Financial Big Data Lab, Financial Quantitative Lab, and Quantitative Investment Research Lab. Financial enterprises like Guotai Junan Securities Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Dongzheng Futures Co., Ltd., signed agreements with universities such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and Tongji University.
Keynote speeches were delivered by Liu Yuanchun, President of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Yang Jincai, European Academy of Sciences Academician, and Li Wei, Foreign Academician of the Russian Engineering Academy and Honorary Professor of the National Key Laboratory of Integrated Circuits at Fudan University. They discussed from various angles, including the macroeconomic situation and FinTech development, industrial applications of AI, and digital technology and financial innovation.
Following the main forum, three parallel forums were held, focusing on topics like Tech Integration, Win-Win Innovation: Generative AI Empowering FinTech Innovation, Data-Driven, Intelligent Acceleration: Tech Empowering High-Quality Financial Development, and Intelligent Integration, Co-Creating the Future: Smart Finance Supporting Industry Innovation. These forums explored the industrial application value and potential impact of digital technology from different perspectives.
To elevate the development level of the North Bund Wealth Management Highland and align with the continuous integration of the financial industry and information technology, Hongkou District has been increasing its construction efforts in the FinTech field. In 2019, the Shanghai Financial Technology Park was established, focusing on the informational needs of the financial industry and supporting advanced technology applications, gathering domestic and international quality FinTech companies and related functional institutions. Additionally, a series of policies and measures were introduced to promote FinTech development, encouraging FinTech companies and professional service institutions to settle in, supporting innovative FinTech projects, expanding financing channels for FinTech companies, and actively integrating into and serving the development strategies of Shanghai's financial and scientific innovation centers. Efforts are being made to accelerate the North Bund's development as the core bearing area of the Shanghai Financial Technology Center.