APAC Outlook - issue 52

Page 20

TOPICAL FOCUS

THE RISE OF FINTECH IN CHINA Chris Pu, Head of China at strategic growth investors Telstra Ventures, shines a light on the expansion of the national Fintech market Writer: Chris Pu, General Partner and Head of China, Telstra Ventures

20 | APAC Outlook issue 52

R

egulatory reforms in China’s financial sector over the last decade, alongside the move to online payments and banking, has served to fuel a burgeoning Chinese Fintech ecosystem. A recent report by EY found that 87 percent of digitally active consumers in China access some form of Fintech service – the joint highest rate in the world along with India – and significantly above the global average of 64 percent. Increasingly, many of the Fintech firms providing such services – in areas such as payments, insurance and investing – can no longer be deemed early-stage start-ups. The report notes that many of these firms have been through several rounds of fund-raising, increased their staff, created corporate departments such

as human resources, accounting and legal, and expanded beyond their home markets. Much of this activity has focused on e-commerce. Consumer-led e-commerce is well established in China and happens much the same as it does elsewhere in the world – via trusted platforms such as Alibaba or JD.com. And there are plenty of Fintechs that play in this space dedicated to moving money around the system more efficiently and making transactions easier and more secure.

THE BURGEONING B2B FINTECH MARKET Of course, the consumer market is important – especially in a country of almost 1.5 billion consumers. But venture capital firms such as ourselves are tasked with identifying


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
APAC Outlook - issue 52 by Outlook Publishing - Issuu