State-Owned And Private Chinese Enterprises Launch Fintech Fund

These are quite exciting times for China, even though not all of the news is positive. One silver lining is how the country will focus more on fintech than ever before. A consortium of state-owned and private enterprises launched a US$1.44bn investment fund. All of this money will be used for acquisitions and mergers in 2017 and beyond.

Under the Asia Fintech Merger And Acquisition Fund of Funds, China plans to put a strong focus on financial technology. The fund is led by Credit China Fintech Holdings. It is evident this collaborative effort aims to put fintech in China on the map. A positive development for a nation that is going through its fair share of financial turmoil.

Chinese Enterprises Want To Get Involved In Fintech

With US$1.44bn pooled together, the new initiative can achieve many things. First and foremost, the investments focus on key fintech sectors. Big data, artificial intelligence, mobile payments, and blockchain technology are some key points of interest. This latter aspect is not surprising, as distributed ledgers will start maturing in the coming years.

Credit China FinTech Executive Director Sheng Jia stated:

“Leveraging on the fund partners’ experiences and competitive advantages in brand recognition, industry resources and expertise, the Fund aims to invest in innovative FinTech enterprises with potential and help them to be the FinTech leaders with our technical know-how and capital resources.”

Moreover, this is another move to reaffirm China’s position in the field of financial technology. Investment in financial tech ventures has grown by US$8.8bn between July 2015 and June 2016. This indicates the country’s investors are keeping a close eye on innovative technologies.

A report issued by EY and DBS shows how China is en route to become the number one financial technology destination. The country overtakes London, New York, and Silicon Valley in this regard. An exciting development for the sector as a whole, and a bright future looms ahead.

It is not the first time China launches a dedicated financial technology fund. In October of 2016, the Zhongguancun Fund of Fund was created, worth US$4.31bn. Financial technology plays an integral role in the future of China, that much is certain.

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