China has emerged as home to one of the world's fastest-growing financial technology, or FinTech, sectors with the world's largest scale of direct investment in the local FinTech sector in 2016, according to a report on China and the UK's FinTech sectors released on Tuesday.
The report, jointly released by consultancy firm EY and the UK Treasury, showed that direct investment in the country's FinTech sector amounted to about $8.13 billion in 2016, outperforming the rest of the world.
The report said that the Chinese market's abundant capital has provided investment for FinTech companies of all maturities, including more than 750 State-run investment funds.
Jack Chan, managing partner of EY Financial Services in Greater China, said during a press conference on Tuesday that the strength of a nation's FinTech sector depends on many factors within its broader ecosystem, and China's ecosystem has a lot of advantages.
For example, the country's consumer base is very large, which has helped the development of FinTech in the daily consumption area, such as mobile payments, Chan said.
The report also showed that a number of FinTech unicorns have emerged in China in recent years, such as Ant Financial.
David Wu, executive director at the EY China Financial Services Risk Management Innovation Hub, said that despite the "capital winter," investment in FinTech must continue to grow in China.
According to Wu, China can't miss the opportunity of developing FinTech if the country wants its economy to surge again.
Chan also noted that China and the UK can complement and support each other in the FinTech area with their different advantages.
"The UK has some advanced technologies such as blockchain, and China's large market and consumer base can also provide opportunities for UK companies," he said.
