On September 25, the 2nd Hong Kong Internet Finance Summit Forum, co-hosted by the Hong Kong China Financial Association, the Internet Finance Thousand People Association, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, officially commenced. Nobel Laureate in Economics Professor James Morris, Bain Capital's Dr. Zhu Jia, Professor Chan Ka-Keung, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong, along with representatives from giants such as Baidu and Tencent attended the meeting. The industry leaders engaged in discussions on how the giants in the internet finance sector would invest, what their future developments would look like, and how they would collaborate with each other.
In recent years, China's internet has emerged as a new financial model that has significantly impacted traditional finance. It has formed a new financial system characterized by major technological innovations, revolutionary models, comprehensive regulations, and disruptive thinking, gradually becoming one of the mainstream financial models. The issuance of the "Guiding Opinions on Internet Finance" by ten national ministries on July 18 marked the formal inclusion of internet finance into the national strategy.
At this summit, under the theme of "Development and Cooperation of Giants," discussions were held by key figures including Zhang Zhenghua, General Manager of Baidu Wallet and Baifubao, Zhu Baifan, General Manager of Baidu Wallet Development Department, Zheng Haojian, General Manager of Tencent QQ Wallet, Xu Feng, General Manager of Ping An Puhui Online Sales Center, and Tang Bin, President of YiBao Payment. Zhu Baifan stated that internet finance should not merely serve as a channel for purchasing products from traditional financial institutions, but should seek to find the internet finance supply chain, evolving into ecological finance to broaden the scope of internet finance. Zheng Haojian emphasized that the core of payment is connectivity, with the ultimate goal of transforming big data into a connection pathway for businesses and users, ultimately creating a win-win situation across various industries.
In the subsequent roundtable forum on "Development and Cooperation of Renowned Internet Finance Enterprises," Lin Yanjun, Chief Strategy Officer of JiuFu, remarked that we are now in an era of mobile internet, and the migration of finance to mobile internet is a significant trend. Li Zhiguo, Chairman and CEO of Wacai, discussed how the development of mobile internet, along with localization and personalization, will lead to a user-centered steward model becoming a new trend. Kang Jingwei, Chairman of KETONG, stated that the internet finance industry needs to direct funds towards China's real economy to support the upgrading and transformation of China's manufacturing sector.
Currently, under the national strategy of internet finance, the development of domestic internet finance has shown a positive trend. Internet finance has inadvertently promoted the marketization of finance, returning to the original intent and essence of finance. The intrinsic spirit of the internet aligns closely with finance, enabling currency to circulate fully. One of the greatest characteristics of the internet is its ability to minimize communication costs and create infinite information symmetry. The successful hosting of this Hong Kong Internet Finance Summit Forum will also bring more insights to industry insiders and outsiders.
It is understood that this conference aims to promote the integrated development of Hong Kong's capital market and internet finance, supported by research and talent cultivation from universities. The summit hopes to gather leaders from internet enterprises, scholars, and senior executives from traditional financial institutions in the Greater China region to engage in extensive exchanges and jointly explore the opportunities and challenges of internet finance in the next decade.