According to the Cnstock Finance and Economics App, on November 27th, the People's Bank of China issued the "Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of Digital Finance" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"). The plan was jointly issued by the People's Bank of China and six other departments. According to the "Plan," by the end of 2027, a financial system adapted to the development of the digital economy will be basically established. The "Plan" proposes to systematically promote the digital transformation of financial institutions, use digital technology to enhance the quality and efficiency of financial services in key areas, consolidate the foundation for the development of digital finance, and improve the governance system of digital finance.

In recent years, with the continuous advancement of technology and the vigorous development of the digital economy, the financial industry, as an important pillar of the economy, has continuously deepened its digitization process, leading industry transformation, and injecting new impetus into overall economic digitization. At the Central Financial Work Conference, there was an emphasis on doing well in "science and technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, retirement finance, and digital finance," while "digital finance" was first included in the central document, highlighting its importance once again.

In order to promote the development of digital finance, the central and local governments have introduced a series of supportive policies. For example, in December 2021, the People's Bank of China issued a notice on the issuance of the "Financial Technology Development Plan (2022-2025)," which emphasizes the development principle of "digital-driven, wisdom for the people, green and low-carbon, fair and inclusive." In January 2022, the former China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Guiding Opinions on the Digital Transformation of the Banking and Insurance Industry," stating: "Efforts should be made to vigorously promote the digital transformation of business operations management, actively develop industrial digital finance, promote the digital transformation of personal financial services, and strengthen the digital construction of financial market businesses."

In terms of market size, data shows that China's financial institution's information technology expenditure increased from 170 billion yuan in 2018 to 340.3 billion yuan in 2022, and is expected to grow to 484.8 billion yuan by 2027 as the digital transformation of financial institutions further deepens.

The digital financial industry chain is roughly divided into three layers: infrastructure, technical support, and product applications. The upstream layer is the infrastructure layer, mainly including front-end technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and blockchain. The middle layer is the technical support layer, mainly providing application technology solution support, such as smart marketing, smart customer service, smart risk control, smart investment consulting, and smart payment. The downstream layer is the product application layer, which can be divided into different financial sectors based on the types of financial services provided, such as third-party payments, investments, financing, insurance, etc.

Dong Ximiao, Chief Researcher at ZZL, said that digital finance is the foundation for building a financially strong nation, supporting and assisting in the development of technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, and retirement finance, and is the top priority for the "five major initiatives." The "Action Plan" puts forward overall requirements and specific measures for the development of digital finance, clarifying the direction, goals, and rules for digital finance development, not only accelerating the digital transformation of financial institutions, promoting the healthy development of digital finance, and doing well in the "five major initiatives" but also accelerating the empowerment of digital technology in the financial industry, promoting the integration of digital technologies, enhancing the quality and efficiency of financial services, and supporting the high-quality development of the digital economy.

China's digital finance will usher in a stage of high-quality development after the post-epidemic era, and may even enter a golden decade of development," Dong Ximiao said. This judgment is based on four current and future factors: the rapid development of the digital economy requires high-quality development of digital finance, user demand deeply transforms and pressures digital finance to develop in a high-quality manner, continuous scientific and technological innovation leads the high-quality development of digital finance, and the continuous improvement of infrastructure supports the high-quality development of digital finance.

Industry insiders believe that with the continuous maturation of technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, it will bring more possibilities for the digital transformation of financial institutions, help improve the service quality and efficiency of financial institutions, enhance user experience, and in the future, financial institutions can explore the application of new technologies in more scenarios.

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