The wind rises in Zhongguancun, Innovation Towards the Future | Ideological Collision — How Can Finance Empower the Development of the Innovation Ecosystem?

China National Radio Beijing, March 27 (Reporter Tang Jing). According to the Economic News program of the Central Radio and Television General Station, technological innovation cannot do without efficient supply and precise matching of finance as the “source of living water.” Dai Wei, President of Bank of Beijing, said that doing a great piece of work in technology finance is the “required answer” called for by the times. As a financial institution, it must have the prudence of a financial professional, the perspective of an entrepreneur, and the sharpness of a scientist, promoting the deep integration of the capital chain with the innovation chain and the industrial chain. Specifically, it is necessary to achieve three major fundamental shifts.

Dai Wei said that first, there is a shift in evaluation logic—from focusing on collateral to focusing on business tracks—so that finance can truly understand technology. Second, there is a shift in service model—from “providing funds” to “building an ecosystem”—to build a resource hub that brings together momentum from multiple parties such as government, industry, academia, research, and finance. Third, there is a shift in the timing of engagement—from “waiting until it matures” to “investing in the future”—to provide timely help in the “first mile” during a company’s start-up period and growth period.

Li Xiaotao, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, believes that enterprises are the question setters, exam graders, and answerers for technological innovation. To promote deep integration between technological innovation and industrial innovation, the key is to strengthen enterprises’ primary position in technological innovation and enrich innovative science-and-technology credit products.

Li Xiaotao said: “We will support leading technology enterprises and universities, research institutes and industrial chain upstream and downstream partners to carry out deep cooperation, form innovation alliances, and conduct coordinated breakthroughs across the entire chain. We will also continue to optimize the business environment. With a partner-style service philosophy, we will reshape the relationship between government and business, and constantly improve the enterprise service system. We will continue to upgrade Beijing’s industry maps in Chinese and English, so that enterprises and investors can better understand Beijing’s industrial policies and layout. We will also vigorously develop productive service industries such as intellectual property, law, and human resources, give full play to the role of government-guided funds, and help banks enrich innovative science-and-technology credit products.”

The “Research Report on the Innovative Development of Digital Finance” released at the forum points out that the digital finance capability of financial institutions is ultimately reflected in the quality and efficiency of financial services for technological innovation. At present, the digital transformation of the financial industry is moving from “quantity-based investment” to “quality-based improvement.” Financial institutions are increasingly paying attention to the deep integration of digital investment and business value. AI-based features in mobile banking, etc., will become a definite trend.

He Yang, Deputy Director of the Cloud Computing and Digitalization Research Institute under the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said that without technology, there is no finance. The field of technology finance cannot be separated from effective technical support. And effective technical support, in turn, can promote improvements in the capabilities of finance-related areas.

“Many financial institutions have rolled out special loans for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises, targeting companies with a high level of digitalization. Correspondingly, there have been improvements in risk-control grasp and analysis capabilities, as well as the new types of credit loans offered. Even in some more important areas—such as those involving the trade supply chain—by using digital finance tools, we can provide more comprehensive financial services, and also effectively promote the improvement of industrial digitalization levels,” he said.