China releases action plan to speed up digitalization of finance sector

The People's Bank of China, together with six other departments, released a development action plan on Wednesday to promote the high-quality development of digital finance, aiming to establish a financial system that highly adapts to the development of the digital economy by the end of 2027.

The action plan vows to accelerate the digital transformation of financial institutions, improve the convenience and competitiveness of financial services, implement the digital yuan, contribute to the country's construction of a strong financial sector, along with the development of relevant fields.

Efforts will be made to systematically promote the digital transformation of financial institutions, elevate financial services through digital technologies, and strengthen the foundation for digital finance development as well as improve the digital financial governance system.

For instance, the action plan proposes guiding financial institutions to integrate financial services into digital scenarios such as industrial internet, artificial intelligence (AI) and industry, and supporting the development and upgrading of core industries involved in the digital sector.

At the same time, it also encourages financial institutions to set up cross-border digital platforms and support the digitalization of maritime trade.

As for enhancing the construction of new infrastructure related to digital finance, the plan says that the deployment of advanced and efficient computing power systems would be expanded, such as accelerating the standardized application of cloud computing, AI, and other technologies.

In addition, it will also explore the use of cutting-edge computing and quantum technology to break through the existing arithmetic bottleneck and provide accurate and efficient arithmetic support for financial digital transformation.

Regarding optimizing the governance system for digital finance, the plan calls for active participation in international cooperation on digital financial regulations organized by global institutions such as IMF.

In a recent move, the innovative digital yuan visual hard wallet was launched at the 18th Shenzhen International Financial Expo earlier in November, introducing a safer and more accessible way to use the digital currency.