China

Happy Year of 🐍 (TWIF - 1/30)

UniTree Robot dancers performing at Chinese Spring Festival Gala (Source: CGTN)

Hi Fintech friends,

Happy Chinese New Year! China certainly has become the hottest topic in the past few days with the launch of DeepSeek. As we continue to watch how things develop, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment area.

Back to fintechs, please find the first newsletter of 2025 below.

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Licensing & Regulations

Alipay-backed Easypaisa became Pakistan’s first digital retail bank.
Hong Kong SFC granted two new crypto trading platform licenses to Panthertrade and YAX.
Citadel has applied for a securities license in China, after not being able to find a suitable acquisition target.
PBOC has released guidelines allowing foreign financial institutions to offer “new financial services” within China’s free trade zones (FTZs).
China urges state-backed funds to increase stock purchases amid a market downturn and declining bond yields.

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Financing, Investment & Acquisition

China approved the merger of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitong Securities, forming China’s largest brokerage.
ByteDance plans to spend over $12 billion on AI in 2025. In the meantime, Perplexity AI has proposed to merge with TikTok, with the US government owning 50%.

Product & Partnership Launches

Alipay and UnionPay partnered with Indonesia to enable Cross-Border QR code payments.
WeChat Pay HK has expanded its cross-border payment services to include small merchants on the Mainland such as local food stalls and Shenzhen taxis.
PhotonPay launched Google Pay for Mastercard users in Hong Kong.
Booking.com and Ant International’s Antom partnered to expand local payments across Asia.
Hong Leong Bank (HLB) announced a partnership with WeBank, China’s largest digital bank, for FinTech and artificial intelligence (AI).
HSBC, in collaboration with Philips, has launched a market-first cross-currency netting solution in mainland China, consolidating thousands of monthly intra-group transactions into a single RMB cross-border transaction, cutting costs and improving cash flow.