The 11th Digital Finance Conference takes place at the Zhongguancun Exhibition Center in Beijing on December 20-21. (COURTESY PHOTO)

By ZHONG Jianli

The 11th Digital Finance Conference took place in Beijing on December 20-21 as part of the 2023 Zhongguancun Forum, with a focus on enhancing digital technology to drive high-quality financial development.

The event revolved around the trends in digital finance, concentrating on new technologies and applications in the banking, insurance and other financial sectors. Experts and representatives from tech enterprises and financial institutions shared their insights and thoughts on the future of the industry.

Liu Yong, director of the Zhongguancun Internet Finance Research Institute, emphasized that in this era of transformation and opportunities, technological innovation and development have become the core competitiveness of various industries. He said the conference provided a platform for exchange of ideas on digital finance and financial technology and hoped it would gather more wisdom and collective strength to drive the financial industry forward.

The recently held Central Financial Work Conference outlined the goal of accelerating China’s development into a strong financial nation and focusing on five major aspects: sci-tech and finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance.

Yang Tao, deputy director of the National Finance and Development Laboratory at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said with digital transformation reshaping the traditional socio-economic development patterns, high-quality financial development significantly depended on the influence of digitization. The development of digital finance should balance the support for innovations in major fundamental technology and applied technology.

Ouyang Rihui, vice president and professor at the China Internet Economy Research Institute of the Central University of Finance and Economics, highlighted the fusion of generative AI with the finance industry. He said the application of AI in the financial sector should focus on integrating the whole value chain of services and breakthroughs should be achieved in human-machine interactions to enhance the user experience.

The China Financial Technology and Digital Finance Development Report (2024), released at the conference, elaborated on the development of underlying financial technologies including AI, blockchain, cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and security technology. It also delved into data assets, Internet 3.0, ChatGPT, digital currency, metaverse, green finance and regulatory technology, emphasizing innovative developments and application scenarios.

Representatives present their projects during the "Everbright Cup" Zhongguancun International FinTech Innovation Competition held during the conference. (COURTESY PHOTO)

At the "Everbright Cup" Zhongguancun International FinTech Innovation Competition held during the conference, the participating enterprises showcased innovative fintech applications in areas such as intelligent marketing, risk management, operational management, payment settlement and wealth management.