(Yicai Global) June 3 -- The rapid development of the fintech sector calls for a new set of regulatory policies that focuses on issues such as fair competition and consumer protection, according to a panel of experts and professionals invited to the fintech seminar hosted by Yicai Media Group at the 2021 Pujiang Innovation Forum yesterday.

The fast growth of fintech has boosted regulatory innovation as traditional financial regulation systems no longer apply, said Yang Yudong, editor-in-chief of Yicai Media Group. The panel discussed the development of fintech, data security, financial regulation and regulatory sandbox initiatives.

Fintech regulation should focus on fair competition, said Tu Guangshao, executive director of the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and chief expert at the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory. It must prevent technology companies from turning to finance without proper qualifications and stop fintech giants from creating a monopoly.

Consumers must be protected and this includes data security, personal information protection and compliance, the experts said.

Data security is the protection of data over its entire life cycle to realize its value and promote the healthy development of the digital economy, said Zhou Yuefeng, vice president of telecoms behemoth Huawei Technologies.

The use of data must be regulated, said Qin Zheng, chief executive of retail finance at technology-as-a-service platform OneConnect. Fintech firms should learn from clients what they really need to achieve sustainable development rather than blindly seek maximum profit.

China has launched new pilot regulations for the fintech sector through a number of ‘regulatory sandbox’ trials in nine cities since 2019, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Some 86 projects run by over 90 financial institutions and tech firms are underway. This reflects the diversity of the fintech ecosystem, said Li Feng, SAIF professor and co-head of the Shanghai Gaojin Institute of Finance.

Regulators should let tech firms also run fintech projects, said Gu Lingyun, founder of IceKredit, a Shanghai-based company that uses machine learning and other artificial intelligence technologies to assess the credit level of small businesses and individuals. This will bring diversity to the regulatory sandbox, he added.

Editor: Kim Taylor