Aerial photo taken on Sept. 27, 2020 shows the science and technology park along the bank of the Dasha River in Nanshan District of Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)
BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- China's banks have continued to increase investment in science and technology (sci-tech) to promote digital transformation, reported Shanghai Securities News Thursday.
In 2020, the country's banking institutions invested 207.8 billion yuan in information technology, up 20 percent year on year.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC, 601398.SH), the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC, 601288.SH), the China Construction Bank (CCB, 601939.SH) and the China Merchants Bank (CMB, 600036.SH) have invested tens of billions of yuan in financial technology (fintech) or information technology, with that of ICBC and CCB registering 23.819 billion yuan and 22.109 billion yuan, respectively.
The 2020 annual reports of many listed Chinese banks have also shown rapid growth in the scale of sci-tech investment.
The China Everbright Bank (CEB, 601818.SH) invested 5.15 billion yuan in sci-tech research and development, an increase of 51.29 percent over 2019.
The information technology investment of CMB rose by 27.25 percent year on year and accounted for 4.45 percent of the operating revenue, and that of the Industrial Bank Co., Ltd. (601166.SH) by 36.38 percent and accounted for 2.39 percent of the operating revenue.
Small and medium-sized banks are also pursuing transformation and development by relying on fintech, increasing related capital and personnel investment. For example, the Bank of Chongqing (601963.SH) invested 263 million yuan to develop finctech capacity in 2020.
Meanwhile, the fintech talents in the banks are growing continuously. For example, ICBC's fintech staff has reached 35,400, accounting for 8.1 percent of the bank's staff. The China CITIC Bank (601998.SH) has 4,190 sci-tech personnel, up 31.68 percent year on year and accounting for 7.6 percent of its total staff.
The investment has paid off. CEB revealed that the bank's key innovation programs had generated high returns by the end of the reporting period, with over 10 billion yuan of new deposits from corporate customers introduced and 100,000 new retail users added.
ABC has seized the fintech development opportunity and accelerated the digital transformation by creating an online financing brand and promoting the construction of agricultural-related databases to lay a solid foundation for the development of rural digital inclusive finance.
(Edited by Gu Shanshan with Xinhua Silk Road, gushanshan.1987@163.com)
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