Strengthen regtech and education on investor risks, experts say

Regulatory technology and education on the risks for individual investors should be strengthened with the fast development of financial technology in China, industry experts said at a forum Wednesday.

“It is highly necessary to strengthen the rights protection of individual financial investors, as the country’s fintech industry is growing really fast,” Li Yuanguang, vice-chairman of the China Consumers' Association, said at the forum by China Consumers Newspaper.

The association, Li stressed, has compiled a brochure of all types of financial fraud that it sends to elderly people around the country.

For Wu Zhen, an expert from the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Coordination Center (CNCERT), the technological development of financial regulation, or regtech, should follow the development of the fintech sector in the country.

“A pre-warning system should be established, especially at an early stage,” said Wu.

So far, there are 41,393 online financial platforms, with half of them remaining in operation, according to the CNCERT. Besides Beijing and Shanghai, most are located in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong provinces. And the number of internet finance users reached 686 million, with most using third-party payment platforms.