NZAI Seminar: E-Commerce and Financial Inclusion

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NZAI Seminar: E-Commerce and Financial Inclusion

China’s Experience and Public Responses

By University of Auckland, Business School

Date and time

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM NZDT

Location

Room 055 (Case Room 3), Level 0, Sir Owen G Glenn Building, The University of Auckland Business School

12 Grafton Road University of Auckland Auckland, Auckland 1010 New Zealand

About this event

A decade ago, China accounted for less than 1% of global e-commerce. Today, China has the largest online shopping population in the world. Its annual e-commerce and m-commerce transactions have now exceeded those of the US, Japan, England, Germany, and France combined.

The amalgamation of finance and technology (fintech) has contributed to the rise of China as an e-commerce powerhouse. The most prominent and comprehensive fintech company in China is Alibaba’s Ant Group.

The company runs Alipay, which has opened online payment channels in more than 200 countries around the world, including New Zealand, and it funnels small ticket loans to micro businesses and low-income consumers.

Its financial platform has thus far provided micro-lending services to 30 million small merchants and 500 million individual consumers. Yet the sudden suspension of the Ant Group’s initial public offering (IPO) by the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges in early November 2020 has directed Chinese public attention to fintech companies’ internet financial activities and their accompanied risks for subprime credit crisis, customer data mismanagement, monopolistic business practices, excessive materialism, and conspicuous consumption.

About the speakers:

• Dr Xin Chen, Research Fellow, NZ Asia Institute. Her research interests include regional integration in East Asia, political economy, and China’s domestic politics.

• Dr Benjamin Liu, Senior Lecturer, Department of Commercial Law. He specialises in financial derivatives and structured products. His recent research also covers China’s social credit system.

• Dr Haiping Zhang, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics.

His research focuses on International Macroeconomics and Trade, Financial Development, and Structural Changes.

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