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Overhaul of online platforms run by Chinese fintech firms including Ant Group ‘went well’, though more work is needed, says regulator
- Beijing unleashed a raft of new fintech regulations and an antitrust inquiry into the country’s technology sector late in 2020
- Some internet services providers had expanded aggressively into the online finance business in a ‘disorderly manner’, posing ‘major financial risks’
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Business overhauls at 14 mainland Chinese internet finance platforms, including Ant Group, to tackle disorderly expansion and anticompetitive behaviour that brought major risks to China’s finance sector have gone well, though more work is needed, a senior regulator said.
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Self-inspection by the platform operators has been largely completed, although it will take more time for the revamp to be fully implemented as it involves complicated issues, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said on Wednesday.
“These innovative financial platforms, previously not under our supervision, have gradually come under our scrutiny,” he told reporters. “This process takes time as we encountered difficulties in areas such as the identification and evaluation of their products, besides the protection of private personal data, corporate information and commercial secrets.
“While this is very complicated, overall we are confident that we can do a good job on the overhaul.”
Beijing unleashed a raft of new fintech regulations and an antitrust inquiry into the country’s technology sector late in 2020.
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It came soon after Ant’s US$34.5 billion dual initial public offering slated for Hong Kong and Shanghai was foiled at the last minute on the back of regulatory changes last November.
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