$1.5 billion fintech fund launches in China

A group of Chinese companies and state-owned businesses are partnering to create a new $1.5 billion fintech fund that will focus on mergers and acquisitions, and nurturing fintech enterprises in China.

The fund, branded as Asia’s FinTech Merger and Acquisition Fund of Funds, is being led by Credit China FinTech Holdings Limited, a fintech services provider that focuses on providing support to SMEs and consumers in Asia through internet and mobile internet.

Partnering with Credit China Fintech Holdings are China Huarong International, Shanghai Xinhua Publishing Group, and Jilin Province Investment Group and together they will put in more than RMB 10 billion ($1.5 billion).

Other partners of the fund include China Cultural Industry Association, New Times Trust Co., Ltd., Shenzhen China Create Group, N-Securities Co., Ltd., Beijing Yongyu Investment, Tianjing Borong and Jaunting Capital.

It is a latest move signalling China’s consistent fintech power, the most recent reminder of which came on Singles Day, the world’s biggest e-commerce day held each year on 11th November. In 2016’s event, Alibaba said its sales hit $18 billion – a 32% increase on 2015 – in 24 hours. A recent McKinsey study highlighted that by the end of 2015, China’s fintech sector exceeded RMB 12 trillion ($1.8 trillion).

Credit China Fintech Holdings emphasised these points by saying that between July 2015 and June 2016, FinTech related investments in China surged by US 8.8 billion.

Mr. Sheng Jia, Executive Director of Credit China FinTech, said in a statement:

“Leveraging on the fund partners’ experiences and competitive advantages in brand recognition, industry resources and expertise, the Fund aims to invest in innovative FinTech enterprises with potential and help them to be the FinTech leaders with our technical know-how and capital resources.”

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