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Digital Finance in Practice & Future Outlook

Feb 04-2026   



*This article is based on the keynote speech delivered by Jing Xiandong, Chairman of Ant Group.

Drawing upon Ant Group's over two decades of experience, Jing Xiandong, a practitioner in the field of digital finance, shared his observations and reflections on the development path of China's digital inclusive finance. He emphasised that the healthy and sustainable development of China's digital inclusive finance hinges on establishing a virtuous ecosystem that integrates regulatory guidance, market innovation and academic support. This ecosystem provides a moderately accommodative space for technological innovation and establishes institutional safeguards for risk prevention and consumer rights protection.

Mr Jing reviewed Ant Group's two pivotal developmental phases since its establishment in 2004: during the first decade, the company was deeply engaged in advancing the adoption of digital and mobile payments; during the second decade, it expanded beyond payment services to offer a variety of digital inclusive financial products. Looking ahead to the next decade, he emphasised Ant Group's continued commitment to technology as its fundamental driver, with a strategic focus on deepening artificial intelligence applications.

With regard to digital payments, Mr Jing noted that China's mobile payment penetration now ranks first globally, with merchant service fees significantly lower than international levels. He also analysed the intrinsic link between mobile payments and the utilisation of data elements. He argued that the widespread adoption of mobile payments provides the big data necessary for building credit profiles for individuals and micro-enterprises, and that the digital connections established by payment platforms create channels for the precise delivery of financial services.

In terms of international expansion, Jing reviewed Ant Group's global strategy, which was launched in late 2014. Currently, “Alipay+” connects 40 global e-wallets and 10 national payment gateways, providing a “one wallet for global use” solution and serving 1.8 billion consumers worldwide. Jing also highlighted the “WorldFirst” platform, which supports SMEs in cross-border trade. It is dedicated to helping SMEs participate in global trade via e-commerce channels by offering a range of services, including multi-currency account payments and foreign exchange risk management. “WorldFirst” currently serves over one million SMEs globally, effectively lowering the barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises to engage in international trade. This demonstrates that SMEs are becoming increasingly significant participants in global commerce with the support of digital technology.

Looking ahead, Jing Xiantong believes that two emerging technologies, intelligence and tokenisation, will reshape financial services and business models. In the field of artificial intelligence, finance, being both data- and language-intensive, will be profoundly impacted by generative AI across the entire value chain, from risk prevention and control to customer service and product development.

In terms of intelligence, he categorises the evolution of agentic commerce into four stages. The first stage is “Machine Thinking, Human Decision-Making” (Copilot), in which AI provides recommendations for final user confirmation. The second stage is “Machine Thinking and Autonomous Execution” (Autopilot), in which AI independently completes operations within authorised parameters. The third stage is “Multi-Agent Collaboration”, in which customer-facing agents coordinate multiple agents to accomplish tasks. The fourth stage is “Human-Machine Symbiosis”, in which agents transcend external tools to become living entities deeply integrated into both the physical and digital worlds. He noted that, as the Agentic economy evolves towards these higher stages, payment systems must also evolve. Technologies such as blockchain, smart contracts and the digital renminbi show promise in providing reliable solutions for value distribution and settlement among multi-agent systems.

Jing Xiandong emphasised that tokenisation is not virtualisation, but rather the digital representation of underlying assets or value. It offers advantages such as enhanced transaction transparency, lowered investment thresholds and support for 24-hour, cross-market trading. Ant Group is actively participating in relevant regulatory sandbox experiments in international markets with the aim of facilitating the on-chain registration of regulated assets and promoting the transition of tokenisation from an early, speculative phase to one of genuine value exchange. Jing Xiandong contends that regulatory sandboxes are significant in three key areas. Firstly, they refine regulatory frameworks within controlled environments, providing institutional safeguards for innovation. Secondly, they foster collaborative ecosystems among financial institutions, technology enterprises and regulators. Thirdly, they cultivate interdisciplinary talent with forward-looking perspectives.

In conclusion, Jing Xiandong emphasised that this new wave of technological advancement will profoundly reshape financial services and require coordinated efforts from regulators, academia, and the market to ensure its healthy development. He called for the collaborative exploration of a digital finance development path suited to China's realities, guided by the principle of “staying on the right course and seeking to break new ground at the same time”.

 


Digital Finance in Practice & Future Outlook

Feb 04-2026   



*This article is based on the keynote speech delivered by Jing Xiandong, Chairman of Ant Group.

Drawing upon Ant Group's over two decades of experience, Jing Xiandong, a practitioner in the field of digital finance, shared his observations and reflections on the development path of China's digital inclusive finance. He emphasised that the healthy and sustainable development of China's digital inclusive finance hinges on establishing a virtuous ecosystem that integrates regulatory guidance, market innovation and academic support. This ecosystem provides a moderately accommodative space for technological innovation and establishes institutional safeguards for risk prevention and consumer rights protection.

Mr Jing reviewed Ant Group's two pivotal developmental phases since its establishment in 2004: during the first decade, the company was deeply engaged in advancing the adoption of digital and mobile payments; during the second decade, it expanded beyond payment services to offer a variety of digital inclusive financial products. Looking ahead to the next decade, he emphasised Ant Group's continued commitment to technology as its fundamental driver, with a strategic focus on deepening artificial intelligence applications.

With regard to digital payments, Mr Jing noted that China's mobile payment penetration now ranks first globally, with merchant service fees significantly lower than international levels. He also analysed the intrinsic link between mobile payments and the utilisation of data elements. He argued that the widespread adoption of mobile payments provides the big data necessary for building credit profiles for individuals and micro-enterprises, and that the digital connections established by payment platforms create channels for the precise delivery of financial services.

In terms of international expansion, Jing reviewed Ant Group's global strategy, which was launched in late 2014. Currently, “Alipay+” connects 40 global e-wallets and 10 national payment gateways, providing a “one wallet for global use” solution and serving 1.8 billion consumers worldwide. Jing also highlighted the “WorldFirst” platform, which supports SMEs in cross-border trade. It is dedicated to helping SMEs participate in global trade via e-commerce channels by offering a range of services, including multi-currency account payments and foreign exchange risk management. “WorldFirst” currently serves over one million SMEs globally, effectively lowering the barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises to engage in international trade. This demonstrates that SMEs are becoming increasingly significant participants in global commerce with the support of digital technology.

Looking ahead, Jing Xiantong believes that two emerging technologies, intelligence and tokenisation, will reshape financial services and business models. In the field of artificial intelligence, finance, being both data- and language-intensive, will be profoundly impacted by generative AI across the entire value chain, from risk prevention and control to customer service and product development.

In terms of intelligence, he categorises the evolution of agentic commerce into four stages. The first stage is “Machine Thinking, Human Decision-Making” (Copilot), in which AI provides recommendations for final user confirmation. The second stage is “Machine Thinking and Autonomous Execution” (Autopilot), in which AI independently completes operations within authorised parameters. The third stage is “Multi-Agent Collaboration”, in which customer-facing agents coordinate multiple agents to accomplish tasks. The fourth stage is “Human-Machine Symbiosis”, in which agents transcend external tools to become living entities deeply integrated into both the physical and digital worlds. He noted that, as the Agentic economy evolves towards these higher stages, payment systems must also evolve. Technologies such as blockchain, smart contracts and the digital renminbi show promise in providing reliable solutions for value distribution and settlement among multi-agent systems.

Jing Xiandong emphasised that tokenisation is not virtualisation, but rather the digital representation of underlying assets or value. It offers advantages such as enhanced transaction transparency, lowered investment thresholds and support for 24-hour, cross-market trading. Ant Group is actively participating in relevant regulatory sandbox experiments in international markets with the aim of facilitating the on-chain registration of regulated assets and promoting the transition of tokenisation from an early, speculative phase to one of genuine value exchange. Jing Xiandong contends that regulatory sandboxes are significant in three key areas. Firstly, they refine regulatory frameworks within controlled environments, providing institutional safeguards for innovation. Secondly, they foster collaborative ecosystems among financial institutions, technology enterprises and regulators. Thirdly, they cultivate interdisciplinary talent with forward-looking perspectives.

In conclusion, Jing Xiandong emphasised that this new wave of technological advancement will profoundly reshape financial services and require coordinated efforts from regulators, academia, and the market to ensure its healthy development. He called for the collaborative exploration of a digital finance development path suited to China's realities, guided by the principle of “staying on the right course and seeking to break new ground at the same time”.