E-signature market sets to grow

As China vows to drive digitalization, electronic signature is quickly penetrating various industries and promoting digital transformation, according to industry experts and company executives.

"Amid many economic uncertainties, e-signatures can help companies to quickly tap into the digital trend and find new growth drivers. It will be a promising field in the country's digital transformation," said Jin Hongzhou, founder and CEO of third-party e-signature platform eQianbao, or eSign, recently in a conference.

Last year, the number of e-contracts signed in the country hit 70 billion. The size of the domestic e-signature market arrived at 15.51 billion yuan($2.18 billion), an increase of 42.8 percent year-on-year.

Jin said that, for instance, the company has helped a Fortune Global 500 company to quickly start an e-signature service amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It helped the company to sign in-time its overseas trade contracts online and avoid huge costs in delayed goods," he said.

Hong Lyuhang, a technology head of automaker Geely, said that through the establishment of an efficient and unified seal management platform, the company can save an average of nearly 2 million yuan in operation and maintenance per year.