BEIJING (Reuters) – China plans to strengthen the risk assessment procedures for financial innovation products, including by suspending the operation of some products, the government said on Friday in its development plan for 2021-2025.
China will also step up the regulation of internet platforms and better identify monopolies to battle unfair competition, the plan said.
China will also crack down on illegal financial activities over the next five years, improve the long-term mechanism for internet finance, and regulate the development of consumer finance, according to the plan.
China will also improve the monitoring of the digital economy and move faster to improve the governance structure of smaller banks, rural credit cooperatives, and non-bank institutions, it said.
Chinese financial regulators have rolled out a slew of measures since last year to tighten the oversight of online lending practices in the country, particularly of technology firms looking to expand into the financial space, moving away from its once laissez-faire approach.
Under the drive, China suspended the initial public offering of Alibaba’s fintech affiliate Ant Group last November and its financial regulators have urged the company to come up with an overhaul plan.
(Reporting by Cheng Leng, Zhang Yan and Ryan Woo; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christian Schmollinger)
