China and South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding on financial technology; South Korean Fintech companies intend to enter the Chinese market

Following the South Korean government's public statement in October this year that it would support and encourage the development of financial technology (Fintech), the country's financial technology startups are seeking to gain a foothold in China.

According to The Korea Herald, five Korean companies and Chinese partners participated in the 'Beijing Financial Technology Demo Day' event in Beijing yesterday. The event was funded by the Korean government and saw several Korean financial technology industry startups demonstrate a variety of technology services such as mobile wallets, biometrics, robot advisors, etc.

The Financial Technology Center of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea and the operator of the Chengdu Industrial Park also reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

As the most important financial regulatory agency of the South Korean government, the FSC is leading the country's financial technology work. The FSC claims that this MOU means that China and South Korea will establish comprehensive financial technology cooperation.

Focusing on export financial technology

The Beijing 'Demo Day' is the last stop in the FSC's global financial technology event. Prior to this, such demo days have been held in Singapore, Cambodia, London and Silicon Valley.

FSC states:

“The government plans to continue these financial technology demo days in 2017.”

The Beijing event comes as the South Korean government implements a frenetic financial technology development plan that will see a digital currency system institutionalized in 2017, while the country plans to introduce regulations for Bitcoin in 2017.

The South Korean government has announced collaboration with Singapore and Indonesia on financial technology.

Aside from the national perspective, South Korean private companies and institutions are already stepping up the development of financial technology and blockchain projects.

A clear example is that earlier, Shinhan Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in South Korea, announced that it would launch a Bitcoin remittance service from South Korea to China at the end of 2016.

In other efforts, Korea Exchange, the operator of South Korea’s sole stock exchange, has developed a blockchain marketplace that enables private companies and startups to trade stocks on the open market. Earlier this month, 21 financial investment companies and five blockchain financial technology companies signed an MOU to jointly develop distributed ledger solutions, forming South Korea’s first blockchain alliance.

The South Korean government is so actively promoting the development of financial technology. There is no doubt that it has seen the huge potential of financial technology and wants to take the lead in Asian countries. However, China is not willing to lag behind. The China FinTech Digital Currency Alliance has been established in Shenzhen recently.