Innovative finance in focus

Internet finance innovation development forum

In response to the central government's Internet Plus strategy, an Internet finance forum centered on innovation and development was held on Wednesday during the three-day World Internet Conference.

Keynote speeches and panel discussions covered key sectors of the Internet finance industry such as online insurance services, crowd funding, inclusive finance and online financial information services. Speakers included Charles Adler, co-founder of Kickstarter; Peng Lei, CEO of Ant Financial; and Paul Romer, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The PBC School of Finance at Tsinghua University released its Global Fintech Business Model Report 2015.

Also at the forum, a China Internet Plus Alliance was proposed by Li Shilin, vice-president of the China Internet Development Foundation.

Liang Lihua, director of the information service management bureau of the country's Cyberspace Administration, said incessant innovation can ensure the vibrancy of Internet finance while inclusive finance can fully benefit from Internet finance.

What other participants say

Guo Qingping, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China

The relationship between Internet finance and traditional banking should be mutually beneficial rather than one trying to replace the other. The traditional finance sector is encouraged to take advantage of Internet technology and develop better products and services. We should be on guard against systematic and regional financial risks.

Chen Yizhou, CEO of Renren Company

Internet finance requires a large customer base. China's BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) started with inclusive financing and there's little doubt that they will develop into very strong financial platforms in 10 to 20 years. However mid-sized Internet companies prefer to focus on a specific group of consumers or offer specific products, like student loans.