CreditEase Founder & CEO: Financial Technology and Innovation Critical to Continued Growth of Global Industry

LIMA, Peru, Nov. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tang Ning, founder and CEO of leading Chinese financial technology company CreditEase ("the Company"), today called for expanded global cooperation between businesses and government to facilitate the growth of the financial technology ("fintech") industry while speaking at the APEC CEO Summit (the "CEO Summit") in Lima, Peru. By continuing to innovate, fintech companies with the support of government can help offset the effects of sluggish global growth, slowing trade, and rising protectionism.

The CEO Summit, which took place from November 17-19, 2016, brought together the world's brightest minds in business and politics to discuss critical issues facing the global economy. The CEO Summit will be followed by the APEC Leaders' Meeting on November 20, 2016, where leaders and senior officials from the 21 APEC members, the world's largest economic bloc, will convene to discuss promoting high-quality growth and human development.

Mr. Tang was the only Chinese fintech executive to attend the CEO Summit. Mr. Tang spoke on the "Innovation Economy" panel moderated by the Andes Correspondent for the Financial Times, Andres Schipani, where he discussed ways in which businesses and government can work together to foster innovation and expand economic opportunities and growth. Other participants on the panel included H.E. Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia; Luis Alberto Moreno, President of IADB; and Karl Iagemma, CEO of nuTonomy.

During the discussion, Mr. Tang emphasized the importance of government support when it comes to successful industry growth. "One key point to remember is that regulation is not necessarily a bad thing. Companies and governments are not [working] against each other. What we've [found/learnt] in China's fintech market is that regulation and government intervention can help the market develop [in a healthy manner]," explained Mr. Tang.

Mr. Tang emphasized that while new technologies have been and are being developed, the fintech industry is not entirely new to China. "There are some subsectors which are quite new like robo-advising, crowdfunding, insurance technology and blockchain. But [when it comes to] marketplace lending and payments, the technology [has already been around for] more than ten years."

CreditEase, a pioneering of financial innovator in China having established the country's first peer-to-peer lending company 10 years ago, has been leading the development of inclusive finance in China. Since its establishment, it has built a national network covering 251 cities in China (including Hong Kong S.A.R.) and 93 rural areas. Through Yirendai (NYSE: YRD), CreditEase's online consumer finance marketplace that connects investors with individual borrowers, the Company provides an effective solution to address largely underserved investors and individual borrowers in China. Yirendai provides an online platform that automates key aspects of its operations to efficiently match borrowers with investors and execute loan transactions.

"China's fintech market is the largest in the world. This has been a joint effort between the government and Chinese fintech companies. Smart regulation is very key – regulation should not be too rigid or too flexible," Mr. Tang commented. He added that the government must make the "bottom line" very clear to market practitioners so that when the official rules come out, there are no surprises. He also explained that it is the joint responsibility of government and businesses to leverage technology to ensure the healthy development of the industry over the long term.

"Technology is not a monopoly. The government can also use technology to enforce smart regulation. When we were starting out, CreditEase volunteered to work with financial institutions to make our business more secure. By working with the banks, all transactions take place within the banking infrastructure so that it is clear where all the funds are going. Fintech industry best practices later became a regulatory requirement. A collaborative effort between the government and the industry has made this possible." 

Ahead of the CEO Summit, CreditEase released an English language version of its Report on the Practice of Inclusive Finance ("the Report"). The report was developed by CreditEase, Chief Economist Ba Shusong at the China Banking Association and Harvard Business China Review (HBRC). The Report has also been turned into a Harvard Business School case study.

While the world is concerned with protectionism and trade wars, Mr. Tang believes that collaboration between businesses and governments across national borders is the way to bring sustained and inclusive growth to the global economy.

SOURCE CreditEase