Lu Hongjun: Empower Chinese financial theory and practice with greater discourse power and rule-making authority

Currently, the world has entered multiple eras characterized by chaotic interweaving, technological iteration, and reshaping of the overall landscape. Financial forms, value systems, and development models are undergoing full-scale iterative reform. As the originator of the “chain finance” theory, Lu Hongjun, President of Shanghai International Finance College, points out that “chain finance” is a paradigm-shifting revolution that spans the reconstruction of finance. Against this backdrop, new-era financial professionals will shoulder entirely new historical missions.

On April 6, the 2026 International Financial Center Forum academic conference hosted by Shanghai International Finance College was successfully held in the Lu Jia Zui Reception Hall at Shanghai Jinmao Tower.

This conference invited experts from international financial institutions to deliver special academic briefings around the frontiers of international capital markets and the restructuring of professional capabilities. Lu Hongjun presented a keynote report titled “The Chain Finance Paradigm Revolution and New Missions for Financial Talent” at the forum, offering insights and practical guidance for high-quality development of the Shanghai international financial center and for talent cultivation.

Shanghai International Finance College President, and author of the monograph 《Chain Finance》, Lu Hongjun

Multiple eras are upon us

In the academic briefing titled 《Frontiers of International Capital Markets and Restructuring of Professional Competencies》, experts from international financial institutions, drawing on their own more than 20 years of experience working in international financial institutions, briefly outlined industry historical context and governance architecture. They focused on analyzing the core risks in the industry today, forecasting future development trends, and also shared practical experience. This provided profound inspiration and strong encouragement to professionals in the financial sector and students who are about to enter the financial field, and also offered highly valuable reference for the industry’s development.

Lu Hongjun pointed out that in 2026, the global economy will remain steady amid divergence. AI-driven capital expenditures will become an important driver of growth. At the same time, he reminded the market to pay attention to core risks such as AI valuation pullbacks, geopolitical economic fragmentation, sovereign debt pressure, and policy uncertainty.

He emphasized that under the dual waves of financial globalization and digitalization, financial practitioners must accelerate their capability iteration and build professional competencies and a global perspective suited to the new era.

Next, Lu Hongjun shared under the theme “The Chain Finance Paradigm Revolution and New Missions for Financial Talent,” explaining the core logic behind the financial paradigm revolution in the digital economy era and the new missions of financial talent. He also simultaneously shared a brand-new monograph in the field of chain finance that he has devoted years of research to, systematically introducing the entire process of research exploration from the creation of the chain finance theory to its gradual formation of a complete system.

Lu Hongjun pointed out that in 1994, at the first International Financial Center Seminar, he foresaw and proposed that “talent competition is the main theme of international financial centers in the 21st century.” Over the past 32 years, while the world has moved from the era of globalization and peaceful development into multiple eras characterized by chaotic interweaving, technological iteration, and reshaping of the landscape, the core logic of financial credit and risk remains unchanged. However, financial forms, value systems, and development models are undergoing comprehensive iterative reform. The IMF’s latest report clearly states that tokenized finance will reconstruct the global market architecture and replace financial intermediaries, and that chain finance is precisely a new financial paradigm adapted to the “chaotic interweaving + digital finance” era.

Chain Finance Theory

In the autumn of 2012, at the Wharton Global Leadership Forum for Global Finance in the United States in Philadelphia, Lu Hongjun first proposed the idea of establishing a chain finance theoretical framework. This completed the conceptual creation from 0 to 1 and laid the foundation for the research.

In this sharing, he introduced that the exploration of chain finance mainly went through three core stages: 2012–2013, the Wharton initial release and concept-to-chain creation; 2014–2018, global linkage and deeper theoretical development, with back-and-forth tracking of frontier practices among Shanghai, Silicon Valley, and Hong Kong, to improve the theoretical framework; 2019–2026, system integration and book completion, integrating cutting-edge results such as Web3.0, AI, and quantum finance to refine and form a complete, new, and deployable financial paradigm. He noted that the monograph released this time is a comprehensive summary and systematic presentation of this long and in-depth research and exploration process.

Lu Hongjun重点阐释了链金融理论的三次“不谋而合”，印证其前瞻性与科学性。

First, at the level of the theoretical system, it resonates across time and space with Nobel Prize in Economics laureate Robert Shiller. Starting from different perspectives, the two parties highly align across core dimensions such as understanding of the era, risk response, and financial reconstruction, laying a global academic foundation for chain finance.

Second, at the level of the technical model, in February 2006 Lu Hongjun was the first to propose a “capability currency + Token” model. Subsequently, on March 18 of the same year at the GTC conference, Huang Renxun, founder of Nvidia, proposed a new incentive model of “annual salary system + Token.” As global technology giants, they provided important corroboration for this model, and the two once again jointly anchored the development direction of digital finance and human capital.

Third, at the level of application scenarios, it achieved synchronized resonance with Guizhou’s digital practice. In 2017, the “block data” practice seamlessly matched the underlying logic of chain finance, forming an original model of “chain finance + block data,” providing support for research on a nation’s sovereign digital currency.

In the core part of the report, Lu Hongjun systematically expounded on five major core theories of chain finance.

First, the original “dual-chain parallel” hamburger-structure theory, which defines the iterative coexistence relationships among five major sectors: traditional finance, internet finance, blockchain finance, AI finance, and quantum finance—solving the industry’s muddled perceptions.

Second, it reveals a global pattern of “two rails running in parallel” for digital currencies and a structure of two camps, dividing paths for sovereign digital currencies and market-oriented stablecoins. It provides theoretical support for responding to the impact of stablecoins and promoting the internationalization of the Renminbi.

Third, it builds a system of core technologies and application scenarios for chain finance, and creates an original “capability currency + Token yuan” model, providing practical methodologies for scenario implementation and performance evaluation and allocation.

Fourth, it proposes a theoretical model for the chain-financialization of assets and a DAAR technology model, clarifying the logical lineage of data capitalization, asset securitization, and tokenization of securities, thereby offering solutions for revitalizing stock assets and resolving debt-related risks.

Fifth, it deconstructs the root sources of the United States’ strategy for crypto finance, and summarizes the underlying logic of “positioning with exceptionalism, iterating with accelerationism, maintaining resolve with long-termism, and closing the loop with innovative monopoly,” providing strategic thinking for global financial games.

Finally, Lu Hongjun once again emphasized that chain finance is a paradigm revolution that spans financial reconstruction. He encouraged new-era financial talent to shoulder entirely new historical missions. They must both uphold the初心 of serving the real economy with finance, and also dare to innovate and break through; they should deepen their research into cutting-edge theory so that China’s financial theory and practice can carry more voice and rule-making power on the global stage, and so that China’s national financial teams and international financial talent can play an even greater role as the mainstay in the world’s financial system.