Sina Finance News reported on December 16 that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Alibaba, and Ant Financial signed a comprehensive and deepening strategic cooperation in Beijing today. Witnessed by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Chairman Chen Siqing and Alibaba Group Chairman and CEO Zhang Yong, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Alibaba Group, Hu Hao, Vice Governor of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Hu Xiaoming, President of Ant Financial Services, signed the agreement on behalf of the two parties.

Focusing on fintech and building an open ecosystem is the highlight of this cooperation. According to the agreement, the two sides will accelerate the construction of a new ecosystem of digital finance cooperation and development based on the principle of “reciprocity, openness, mutual benefit and win-win”, create a model for in-depth cooperation between Internet companies and financial institutions, and provide better services to customers from both sides.

The two sides reached a consensus to comprehensively upgrade the strategic partnership, which also represents the common expectations of Internet companies and commercial banks for the win-win prospects of fintech innovation.

Chen Siqing, Chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said, “Over a long period of time, ICBC and Alibaba's digital economy have complementary advantages and jointly built a deeply cooperative ecosystem product chain. Cooperation has gradually expanded from the payment and e-commerce sectors to a multi-dimensional ecosystem, and has achieved good results in various fields such as global corporate finance, scenario finance, and financial innovation. We hope that in the future, the two sides can generate more chemical reactions, jointly promote innovation in China's financial industry, and improve the quality of financial service supply.”

Zhang Yong, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Alibaba Group, said, “Alibaba and Ant Financial have always been grateful and appreciative of ICBC. As early as March 2005, Alipay and ICBC's online banking payment business cooperation was launched to jointly provide users with online payment services. This is the first bank in the country to reach an online payment cooperation with us. It can be said that without ICBC's daring to be the first, tolerant, insightful, and responsible for innovation and future trends, there would be no Alipay's rapid development today, and our country's leading global digital economy today. Facing the future, we will always maintain our original intention and long-term sense of gratitude, and use digital technology to promote financial innovation, serve the economy, and serve people's livelihood. This is the common mission and responsibility of our digital economy and ICBC. Because of trust, we choose to be together; also because of trust, we can create a better future together.”

With the advancement of fintech technology, the pace of online and intelligent global financial services continues to accelerate. Integrating into the scene, integrating into the ecosystem, and opening up collaboration has become the active choice of many commercial banks. According to some data, 75% of banks have begun or are in the process of digital transformation. In this kind of transformation, how to combine with scenarios has become an issue that every bank is considering.

During the exchange, the two sides stated that this strategic cooperation will open a new type of partnership where the two sides are scenarios, ecosystems, and customers.

On the basis of current cooperation, ICBC will further open up and share with Alibaba and Ant Financial in the fields of financial business and fintech, and cooperate for a win-win situation. In the field of financial business, cooperation models will be continuously optimized around customer experience, and further cooperation in electronic payment and settlement, cross-border financial cooperation, and scenario finance will be explored. In the field of technology, exploration in key technical fields such as data intelligence and fintech will be strengthened, and joint innovation in financial products will be accelerated through digital technology.

The wave of fintech is rolling in. The strategic cooperation between ICBC, Alibaba, and Ant Financial is not only following the trend, but also changing with the times. In the future, the deep integration of innovative technologies such as digital technology, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain with financial services will surely provide a steady stream of innovation and vitality for financial development.