Financial sector spurs innovation in country

The financial services sector and its innovation are playing an increasingly important role in advancing China's technological development, industrial upgrading and helping realize the Chinese modernization, officials and experts said on Tuesday.

Weng Qiwen, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at the annual Financial Street Forum that collaboration between financial innovation and industrial upgrading, particularly in the manufacturing sector, holds the key to China's high-quality growth.

Industrial revolution in history usually started with technological innovation, yet only succeeded with financial innovation playing an integral role, he said, adding that the current round of technological transformation endows the financial sector with new missions.

He urged relative industries to step up working in synergy with the financial sector to build up a financial knowledge system and path that adapts to industrial changes. This holds the key to stabilizing supply and industrial chains, advancing industrial growth and will also help to guard against and defuse financial risks.

Weng said that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is now working with the Ministry of Finance and other central financial authorities to advance a virtuous circle between industrial upgrading and financial development on several fronts. In this process, creating a national production capacity platform will help improve the quality and efficiency of financial and industrial cooperation by using big data as a productive factor.

Going forward, a round-up model for financial support towards selective industries shall be built, he suggested. The structure of the financial services supply shall be optimized by scaling up re-lending for scientific innovation and technological upgrading. He also suggested that equity financing and bond financing lean more heavily toward the manufacturing industry.

His view was echoed at the same forum by Wu Xiaoqiu, a senior economist and former vice-president of Renmin University of China. Noting that China is at its critical stage of realizing high-quality growth, Wu stressed that technological innovation is growing more imperative and that financial services shall scale up its support for such innovation.

"The age of technological and industrial transformation is always filled with uncertainties. Such uncertainties can be too much to handle for one single business or startup firm on its own. Therefore, to facilitate sustainable, high-quality growth, a financial system that can help them share the risks and woes during this process must be created," he said.