The 2023 Greater Bay Area Fintech Summit kicked off in Guangzhou in south China on Saturday. The event, co-hosted by the China Finance 40 Forum and the China Finance 40 Institute, is held under the theme of "Building a New Fintech Highland in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area." Several experts offered advices on the future development of digital economy and fintech in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). 

Huang Qifan, former mayor of Chongqing, believed that industrial internet has become an important development direction of the future digital economy. Industrial fintech, or the practice of digital transformation in traditional industrial finance, is conducive to systematically solving the financing problems of micro, small and medium-sized private enterprises in the industrial chain. It is also an effective way to help enterprises to resume production after the pandemic, he added.

The digital transformation of small and medium-sized financial institutions still faces problems, said Tu Guangshao, former executive vice mayor of Shanghai. To tackle the challenges, he suggested regulators to establish a unified data governance system for the industry, and called for small and medium-sized financial institutions to collaborate on transformation.

It is important for the insurance industry to promote the digital transformation, said Zhou Yanli, former vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. Zhou advised on speeding up the digital transformation of insurance operation and management, as well as accelerating the innovation and application of digital technology.

Meanwhile, the summit released a report entitled "Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects of Fintech in the GBA." The report pointed out that the GBA has great potential to develop into a world-class fintech cluster, attributed to its leading role in terms of technology, resources and systems.

Ficancial support is crucial for GBA's future growth. The People's Bank of China, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and other institutions this week jointly issued guidelines on financial support for the construction of Hengqin Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone, and Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone. The guidelines will deepen financial cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, offering strong financial support for building a major cooperation platform in the GBA, the PBOC said.