(Originally published on 09/11/2015)

An international forum was held today in Beijing to discuss internet finance regulatory policies and share innovative practices, in China and around the world. The event was jointly hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchange (CICETE) and the China Association of Microfinance and Huizhong Wealth Management.

“Accelerating financial inclusion is a priority for poverty alleviation globally. Internet finance is a useful tool that can make a huge difference,” said Mr. Patrick Haverman, UNDP Deputy Country Director. “Today, the nternet has made it possible to enlarge scale and reduce costs for financial inclusion, through platforms such as P2P lending and mobile banking,” he added. 

The Internet Finance (P2P Lending) Innovation Forum was attended by representatives from the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the State Council Development Research Center, regional financial offices, international organizations, and internet finance companies.

This event was part of UNDP and CICETE’s Building Inclusive Financial System in China programme. In addition to organizing platforms for knowledge exchange among internet finance stakeholders such as the Forum, the programme also plans to establish an inclusive finance research center and cooperate with the Research Department of PBOC to promote internet finance policies and practices.

During the Forum, participants discussed the newly released regulatory guidelines called Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Sustainable Development of Internet Finance, and shared different perspectives on risk management in inclusive finance and international practices. Participants also engaged in a panel discussion around challenges and new opportunities facing China’s Internet finance sector.

Funded by the Huizhong Group, the Forum provided a unique opportunity for regulatory authorities, research institutions and private sector companies to work together to achieve inclusive finance for poverty reduction.

As the first organization to introduce microfinance in China, UNDP has been working since 1994 with the Chinese government to push for inclusive finance for poverty alleviation. With 48 microfinance pilot projects in 17 provinces, the partnership has greatly contributed to the development of microfinance in China.

(Originally published on 11/11/2015)

The United Nations Development Programma (UNDP) China hosted a roundtable on big data to utilize the expertise of industry specialists and discuss how big data in the future can help the programming of  UNDP in China. Big data experts from the private sector and Chinese Universities met with UNDP representatives; including Baidu, The Data Science Research Institute of Tsinghua University and other 9 big data institutions to form the big data advisory group and find innovative solutions to developmental challenges.

Across the world, Big Data has become one of the most discussed topics in recent years and UNDP China has already recognized the importance of Big Data and its potential for development. Data from social media sources such as Weibo and WeChat and the internet is playing a prominent part in helping Chinese companies to listen the voice of citizens. This big data is faster than official statistics and UNDP recognizes the potential of this data to influence strategies and adapt policy based on feedback.

Using knowledge from big data solutions around the world, such as Google’s Sunroof, which provides accurate data on how much money can be saved by installing a solar panel, key environmental challenges can be addressed in an innovative way. Likewise, computer technology which can mine data from social media during disasters is providing invaluable insights for rescue workers around the world.

At UNDP we want to harness this knowledge and experience for big data and development in China and the UNDP Working Paper on Big Data (2014) aims to draw the attention of development practitioners to the potential of Big Data for Development and assess the biggest challenges for Big Data in China.

In August 2014, UNDP China in collaboration with Baidu, China's largest web search engine launched a ‘Big Data Joint Lab’ initiative to explore innovative solutions to deal with global challenges and promote sustainable development. The ground-breaking E-waste recycling app, Baidu Recycle, has been developed to respond to the growing e-waste problem in China, whereby 3.62 million tonnes of electronic products were disgared in 2011. Baidu Recycle connects users who have old electronic appliances with recycling companies to dispose of e-waste in an environmental friendly manner.

The UNDP hosted session was part of a wider UNDP scheme to tap the power of big data and during the discussion industry experts introduced their innovative big data solutions to the group. The Big Data Search and Mining Lab of Beijing Institute of Technology, presented the social mining-based network, to track farmers who have lost children and to predict fire or accidents, and the Tsinghua Tongheng Institute of Planning and Design shared the smart city project which analyzes human habitat environment and to set up national data network.

The roundtable was the first meeting of the big data working group and looking forward UNDP hopes that big data will play an important role in UNDP’s work of promoting development and achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals.