Why should the gov't embrace China’s tech strategy?

APD NEWS

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Compared with some “rigid, strict” regulatory measures in tech innovations, China provides a “more tolerant environment” to its entrepreneurs, a fintech insider said on CGTN’s The Point.

“China tends to encourage new things to have experience in this society first, and then the regulation will come in and see what we do about it,” explained Zheng Yudong, CEO of the Beijing-based Pintec.

It gives room for innovation and growth, he suggested.

Citing Wechat Pay and Alipay for instance, Mattew Brennan, co-founder of China Channel, attributed the growth of the two major mobile payments in China to their independence from the traditional banking system and the more relaxed policies.

“In the beginning, the government let it go,” Brennan said. Regulations, including the setup of a central clearinghouse, followed “swiftly” later in recent years.

He doubted that the development of online payments would be “killed or harmed” if some regulations were established in the early days, adding that governments around the world should look at and embrace China’s “wait-and-see” strategy towards technology industry.

It serves customers and guides innovative business in the right direction, he said.

Brennan’s comments echoed what Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday about China’s broader efforts to create a more innovative economy in the keynote speech at the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia in south China’s Hainan Province.

“Wading across the river by feeling for stones on the riverbed,” Xi encouraged the innovative steps metaphorically and highlighted the importance of superior design at the forum, noting pioneering and brave minds are crucial to successful socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Xi’s words marked the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up.

(CGTN)