China’s Central Bank to Test New Fintech in Shanghai Sandbox
Tang Shihua
DATE:  Jul 21 2020
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China’s Central Bank to Test New Fintech in Shanghai Sandbox China’s Central Bank to Test New Fintech in Shanghai Sandbox

(Yicai Global) July 21 -- Cutting-edge financial technologies in blockchain, Big Data and artificial intelligence are to be tried out by the Shanghai branch of China’s central bank to help make the city’s financial services more inclusive.

Eight innovative fintech projects will be tested in a so-called regulatory sandbox, the People’s Bank of China’s Shanghai branch said today. Some of the big names involved include China UnionPay, Bank of Communications, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Bank of Shanghai, Industrial Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Pioneered by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority in 2015, regulatory sandboxes enable fintech companies to test new products and services in a real or simulated market environment, with ongoing input from regulators, helping authorities to develop regulatory frameworks for emerging business models such as fintech. The PBOC set up China’s first regulatory sandbox in Beijing last December.

The central bank expanded the scheme in April to include the cities of Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Suzhou and the Xiong'an new district of Hebei province. In June, Guangzhou also started such trials for small loan companies and financing guarantee companies.

The projects now selected for testing in Shanghai aim to provide micro, small and medium-sized companies with safe and reliable services in smart financing, information sharing and risk control, the PBOC added. Half are financial service applications and half are technological products.

Most of the projects will be jointly developed by financial institutions, tech firms and telecoms carriers.

Editor: Kim Taylor

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Keywords:   Pilot Program,Regulatory Sandbox,Financial Regulation,Fintech,Shanghai,PBOC