Chinese Fintech Innovation and Regulation

Nowhere has financial technology or “fintech” become larger or as transformative as in China. Fintech, largely developed by technology companies, rapidly turned China from a largely cash-based, backward financial system to a fintech leader globally. At the same time, China's government created an environment conducive to innovation. China's experience with fintech is a rich repository of lessons for other countries aiming to modernize their financial service industries and “leapfrog” up to advanced economies in some respects. It shows how clever reforms can overcome the lack of competition for financial incumbents, but also the mechanisms necessary to ensure regulation and supervision are sufficient for the risks of financial innovation. Finally, policy debates and solutions in China around the power of big tech, including in finance, have relevance to a world increasingly forced to grapple with these issues.