On April 24, the Roundtable on Money and Finance (Spring 2022) and the closed-door seminar on “Financial Empowerment for Rural Revitalization” were successfully held online. The conference was co-organized by the IMI, Renmin University of China (RUC) and the International Business School of Zhejiang University (ZIBS), hosted by the Zhejiang Association of Fintech (ZAFT), and co-assisted by the Academy of Internet Finance of Zhejiang University (AIF) and Beijing Frontier Institute of Regulation and Supervision Technology (FIRST). At the conference, Wang Zhongmin, former Vice Chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund of the PRC, and Hu Xuehao, inspector of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance and Director of the State-owned Capital Operation and Assessment Center, delivered keynote speeches. Zhuang Yumin, Dean of the School of Finance of RUC and Chairman of the IMI Council, attended the conference and made a welcome speech. The conference was chaired by Ben Shenglin, IMI Co-Director and President of ZIBS.

Zhuang Yumin gave an opening speech in which she expressed her welcome and gratitude to the guests attending the conference. She emphasized the importance of financial services in rural areas, believed that there are still many shortcomings in the provision of financial services in China’s rural revitalization, and hoped that this conference would contribute to the construction of China’s rural financial system. She also reviewed the development of the Roundtable on Money and Finance and offered an outlook on the future of the IMI.

Wang Zhongmin delivered a speech on “The Digital Posture of Financial Services for Rural Revitalization”. He pointed out that in over a decade, financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises and rural areas have been paid increasing attention to and emphasized, resulting in many new understandings and ideas, but there has never been a fundamental breakthrough, and there is a lack of effective channels and tools. Rural revitalization is a major goal of our society, and financial services, financial support as well as financial participation are new perspectives. The fundamental logic of “financial empowerment for rural revitalization” is that digital financial institutions can serve rural areas with extremely low marginal costs, and bring benefits to the areas while accumulating data, expanding the penetration rate and scale of services, and gaining profits. This mode marks a sustainable development path.

Hu Xuehao delivered a speech on the topic of “Reshaping Rural Financial System and Supporting Rural Revitalization”. He firstly shared his understanding of inclusive finance, that is, to make up for the shortcomings of financial services for disadvantaged groups, remote areas, and vulnerable industries, such as rural areas and agriculture. He then introduced the current situation of rural finance, showing that rural finance still has more room for development and needs better rural financial services. He proposed that the next step of rural financial development can be to reshape the rural financial system under the premise of rural revitalization, including to reshape the institutional system and to change the traditional financial services, and that the development of fintech is a reliable path for rural financial progress. Finally, he noted that the development of rural finance rquires certain financial support and guidance.

Participating in the roundtable discussion were experts and academicians from China’s financial regulatory bodies, research institutes, and the financial industry. The attendees included Yang Zaiping, the founding Secretary-General of Asian Financial Cooperation Association and former Vice Chairman of China Banking Association; Guo Jianwei, former Editor-in-Chief of China Financial Publishing House; Chen Weidong, President of Bank of China Research Institute; Yan Jiongzhi, Secretary of the CPC Committee and President of Hangzhou Branch, Huaxia Bank; Yang Tao, Deputy Director of National Institution for Finance and Development; Shen Yiwen, Founder, Chief Partner and President of Boyue International Group, Visiting Associate Professor of Business School of National University of Singapore and Chinese University of Hong Kong; E Zhihuan, Chief Economist of Bank of China Hong Kong; Ma Jiujie, Executive Deputy Director of the Rural Economy and Finance Research Institute, RUC; Tu Yonghong, Director of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Research Institute, RUC and IMI Deputy Director; Fan Xiwen, Independent Director and Special Advisor of China United Small and Medium Enterprises Guarantee Co. Ltd.; Jiang Hao, Vice President of E-Commerce Bank; Pei Yigen, Vice President of Shanghai Services Federation and Secretary General of Lujiazui Industrial Finance Forum; Wang Changyun, Professor of the School of Finance, RUC; and Song Ke, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee of the School of Finance, RUC and IMI Deputy Director.

Ben Shenglin made a concluding speech at the end. He pointed out that the theme of the conference is a global and strategic issue and requires much more effort. He affirmed and thanked the participants for their inspiring speeches and invited all experts and academicians to continue their support of the Roundtable on Money and Finance.