China Adds a New City to Their Fintech Pilot Initiative

The People’s Bank of China has officially added Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province, to the list of regions carrying out fintech innovation supervision pilots, according to local news on July 20.

Industry insiders believe that Chengdu’s official approval will further accelerate fintech innovation and actively help Chengdu build a regional fintech center with international influence.

The city is reportedly focusing on big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and blockchain technologies. It is accelerating the construction of local financial regulatory sandboxes to enhance local financial regulatory capabilities and service levels.

Fintech and regulation

Fintech innovation supervision is also called the fintech “regulatory sandbox.” The central bank launched its first pilot in Beijing in December 2019 to help licensed financial institutions and technology companies to comply with laws, regulations, and control risks.

The goal, according to the report, is to explore the use of emerging technologies to drive financial innovation, empower finance to improve quality and efficiency, and strive to improve the ability of financial services to the real economy.

The scope of the current fintech pilot program has been expanded to 9 regions. These include Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Xiongan New District, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Guangzhou, and now Chengdu, says the news.

As Cointelegraph reported previously, China’s new digital currency pilot test has been carried out in cities similar to the fintech supervision pilot’s regions.