On 9 March 2022, Business China collaborated with National Library Board to organise an Eye on Asia Webinar titled “China’s Finance Industry（and its impact on Asia）”. Guest speakers Mr Tommy Xie, Head of Greater China Research at OCBC Bank and Mr Eric Sim, Founder, Lecturer and Author at Institute of Life were invited to share their industry insights and give advice on how one can prepare for a career in the finance industry. This webinar attracted 200 participants on Zoom.
Banks: major players in China’s financial industry
Mr Xie started his talk by giving a macro-perspective of China’s finance industry. According to him, banks are still a major player in China’s financial industry, and China will continue to be the growth engine for the global banking sector, generating more than one-third of global banking profit with about one-quarter of global banking assets.
Sensitivity to macro-environment, policy direction and regulatory changes
As banks play a salient role in supporting China’s national strategy, Mr Xie noted that being part of this industry requires one to be very sensitive to the macro-environment, policy directions and regulatory changes. This led Mr Xie to introduce China’s Common Prosperity agenda and its impact on businesses. Mr Xie shared that banks have seen or are expecting to see market changes brought on by China’s growing manufacturing sector, a new supply and demand matrix in China’s property market driven by a possible property tax, and rural revitalisations as part of China’s Common Prosperity goal to narrow economic imbalances through high-quality growth.
Citing the latest bankers’ survey on development strategy, Mr Xie went on to highlight Inclusive Finance, Fintech and Green Finance as the top 3 key areas of focus in China’s banking sector during her 14th five-year plan. He believes Fintech will have a great role to play in time to come because the development of blockchain and big data are important in solving banks’ pain points to support inclusive finance.
Being creative and digital savvy in China’s banking industry
On developing a professional career in China’s financial sector, Mr Xie said that being creative and digital savvy are traits to perform in China’s young and dynamic banking industry. He added that career progression in China’s banking industry is not limited by age so long as one can perform.
Building relationship, rapport and trust before business
The second speaker, Mr Eric Sim, offered a different perspective of looking at China’s financial industry through Chinese business culture. As an ex-investment banker with working experience in China, he stands by the belief that building relationships, rapport and trust come first before one can talk about business in China. Using anecdotes and observations as examples, he gave the audience three tips to do well in China.
Tip 1: Business over dinner, conversations and WeChat
First, Mr Sim advised the audience to set up Chinese social media accounts such as WeChat and Weibo, and update them regularly. Social media accounts are not only for communication purposes but also personal name cards to help your clients understand you better. Moreover, by being attuned to the latest happenings and geo-politics on social media, one can easily find conversation starters with their client. In Mr Sim’s own words, “Business in China is not done over meetings, but over dinner conversations and WeChat.”
Tip 2: Identify decision makers through titles and protocols
Second, Mr Sim spent some time explaining the hierachy behind the dinner seating arrangement. According to him, “knowing your clients’ titles and the Chinese hosting protocols can help you identify decision-makers who can seal a deal”. Even so, he reminded the audience to also treat junior staffs with due respect since you never know when they can help you in some way or another.
Tip 3: Negotiation as an Art
Third, negotiation is an art, and it is important to always offer a way out for your clients.
Speed and scale of China’s finance industry
For the Q&A segment, Mr Xie and Mr Sim addressed the audience’s question on what they like about the banking scene in China. Mr Sim mentioned the speed at which the industry is moving and the scale of the market. Mr Xie concurred, and recommended China to anyone who is interested to start a career in fintech, as its population size provides an immense amount of big data for analysis and application.
Using himself as an example to answer another follow-up question on how Singaporeans can survive in the China market given its huge population size and hence stiff competition, Mr Eric said that there will always be a need for people with international perspectives. Instead of competing against the whole 1.4 billion Chinese population, Mr Sim told the audience that they are only competing with people who can connect China and the outside world. Mr Xie shared the same sentiment and elaborated on Singapore’s unique value propositions which give Singaporeans a competitive edge over others in the industry.
Business China is a founding partner of the National Library Board’s Eye on Asia, supporting its numerous events with the objectives to bring invaluable insights and updates on the growing trends and developments in China.
A recording of this webinar is available here.