8月初，我們深入探究了中國(guó)金融科技產(chǎn)業(yè)的現(xiàn)狀，這也是今年早些時(shí)候《財(cái)富》雜志首屆頭腦風(fēng)暴金融大會(huì)上某次早餐圓桌會(huì)的主題。

那天早上的會(huì)議中，我們的特邀演講者早早就在一個(gè)問(wèn)題上達(dá)成了共識(shí)：在金融科技領(lǐng)域，中國(guó)比全球任何國(guó)家都要先進(jìn)得多。區(qū)塊鏈投資公司Proof of Capital的執(zhí)行合伙人楊佩珊表示：“如果你想看看金融科技的未來(lái)，去中國(guó)就能看到?！彼硎荆⒗锇桶偷淖庸疚浵伣鸱万v訊的微信是數(shù)字銀行和數(shù)字支付的典范。

中國(guó)金融科技初創(chuàng)企業(yè)品鈦的總裁周靜解釋稱，中國(guó)金融科技產(chǎn)業(yè)的崛起依賴于軟件應(yīng)用和手機(jī)的普及?！斑^(guò)去，人們沒(méi)有智能手機(jī)，如果住得很遠(yuǎn)，就無(wú)法獲得在美國(guó)隨時(shí)可用的信息或服務(wù)?！敝莒o說(shuō)。

“今天，不用在當(dāng)?shù)亻_(kāi)銀行分行，就可以接觸到住在西藏和你從未聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)的遙遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)的客戶。” 周靜繼續(xù)說(shuō)道，“只需花費(fèi)非常少的甚至接近于零的成本，你就可以向中國(guó)大多數(shù)人提供零售金融產(chǎn)品?！?/p>

另一家中國(guó)金融科技初創(chuàng)企業(yè)融360的首席執(zhí)行官、董事長(zhǎng)及聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人葉大清談到了在這樣一個(gè)新市場(chǎng)中經(jīng)營(yíng)所面臨的一些挑戰(zhàn)。他說(shuō)，讓新買家和賣家彼此信任并不容易。

融360面臨著為掠奪性借貸機(jī)構(gòu)提供網(wǎng)貸平臺(tái)的爭(zhēng)議，葉大清在回答相關(guān)問(wèn)題時(shí)表示，公司一直在正面處理這個(gè)問(wèn)題?！拔覀冇胸?zé)任確保平臺(tái)上產(chǎn)品的可靠性——他們必須遵守相關(guān)規(guī)章制度?！彼€表示，公司一直在“收緊”市場(chǎng)。

葉大清還強(qiáng)調(diào)了消費(fèi)者教育的重要性?！坝涀?，對(duì)于許多中國(guó)消費(fèi)者來(lái)說(shuō)，這是他們?nèi)松械谝淮斡眯庞每?，或者是第一次?gòu)買保險(xiǎn)。我們需要幫助人們理解什么是復(fù)利，什么是APR”，APR指的貸款年利率，也就是貸款需要支付的利息。他說(shuō)：“我們正在與金融服務(wù)提供商合作，確保他們良好守信，不會(huì)進(jìn)行誘騙式的營(yíng)銷。”

由于中國(guó)的消費(fèi)者基礎(chǔ)不斷壯大，而且前進(jìn)的道路上幾乎沒(méi)有什么根深蒂固的阻礙，中國(guó)一直在技術(shù)上實(shí)現(xiàn)跨越式發(fā)展。中國(guó)一直在試驗(yàn)新的理念，比如受到爭(zhēng)議的社會(huì)信用體系——該體系根據(jù)人們的行為進(jìn)行評(píng)級(jí)，并根據(jù)評(píng)級(jí)限制或允許他們獲得服務(wù)。中國(guó)最近即將取得的成就是：央行在8月12日表示，經(jīng)過(guò)五年的發(fā)展，它“差不多準(zhǔn)備好”發(fā)行自己的數(shù)字貨幣。

中國(guó)幣能否代表金融科技的前沿？我們要等有更多的細(xì)節(jié)才能回答這個(gè)問(wèn)題。但是，正如楊佩珊在會(huì)上的小組討論中所言，中國(guó)政府對(duì)區(qū)塊鏈技術(shù)的興趣，似乎是出于對(duì)金錢的吸收和控制；它不像眾多加密貨幣支持者那樣那么關(guān)心去中心化的愿景。

“我非常看好中國(guó)?！睏钆迳罕硎尽＃ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Agatha

We discussed the roiling Sino-American trade war and the shock depreciation of China’s currency at the beginning of August. Today we’re going to take a deeper look at the status of the financial technology industry, or fintech, within China, which was the subject of a breakfast roundtable Fortune hosted at its inaugural Brainstorm Finance conference earlier this year.

Early on during that morning session, our featured speakers found a point of agreement: the Middle Kingdom is far more advanced than just about any other nation when it comes to financial tech. “If you want to see the future of fintech, just go to China,” said Edith Yeung, managing partner of Proof of Capital, a blockchain-focused investment firm. She cited Alibaba-spinoff Ant Financial and Tencent’s WeChat as paragons of digital banking and payments.

Zhou Jing, president of Pintec, a Chinese fintech startup, explained the Chinese industry’s rise as hinging on the proliferation of software applications and mobile phones. “In the past people didn’t have smartphones and they didn’t have access, if they lived far away, to information or services that are readily available in the U.S.,” Zhou said.

“Today, without opening a bank branch you can reach out to customers who live in Tibet and faraway places you’ve never heard of,” Zhou continued. “You can provide retail financial products to the majority of the population in China at marginal cost, or close to zero.”

Daqing “David” Ye, CEO, chairman, and cofounder of Rong360, another Chinese fintech startup, discussed some of the challenges that attend operating in such a new market. It’s not simple to get new buyers and sellers to trust one another, he said.

Responding to a question about a controversy over Rong360 hosting predatory lenders on its loan-originating marketplace, Ye said his company has been tackling the issue head-on. “We have the responsibility to ensure the accountability of products on our platform—they have to obey the rules and regulations,” he said, noting that the company had been “tightening up” its market.

Ye also highlighted the importance of consumer education. “Keep in mind, for many Chinese consumers, this is the first time in their whole lives they want to use credit or buy insurance. We need to help people understand what’s a compound interest rate, what is APR,” or annual percentage rate, meaning the interest due on loans. “We’re working with financial service providers to make sure they follow good, best practices and can’t do bait-and-switch marketing,” he said.

With a surging consumer base and little entrenched infrastructure to stand in the way, China has been leapfrogging ahead technologically. The country has been experimenting with new ideas, such as its controversial social credit system, which grades people based on their behavior and either restricts or green-lights their access to services. The latest impending achievement: On August 12, China’s central bank said it was “almost ready” to release a digital currency of its own after five years of development.

Will China-coin represent the leading edge of finance? We’ll have to wait for more details to find out. But, as Yeung pointed out during the panel discussion, the Chinese government’s interest in blockchain technology appears to be driven by a desire to co-opt and control money; it cares less about the vision of decentralization promoted by so many cryptocurrency boosters.

“I’m very bullish on China,” Yeung said.