Lithuania central bank welcomes Chinese FinTech companies

VILNIUS - Lithuania invites Chinese companies and investors to take advantage of a friendly and flexible FinTech environment in the country which offers broad development possibilities, chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, said on Tuesday ahead of his trip to Beijing.

"China's FinTech sector has already come on the scene in Lithuania. However, appreciating the scope of China's huge innovation market and its growth potential, we seek even more investors to take an interest in all the possibilities for business development that Lithuania can offer," Vitas Vasiliauskas was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Lithuanian central bank.

By strengthening relations with China's FinTech sector, the central bank and the banking supervisor, Lithuania "will open the door to China more widely for our own businesses."

Vasiliauskas will attend a financial forum scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday in Beijing, where he will meet with Chen Yulu, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, and Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, according to the statement.

The two countries' cooperation in banking supervision, changes in the financial sector, investor opportunities, and trade relations between the European Union (EU) and China are among the topics to be discussed during the meetings, the statement reads.

Around 10 Chinese companies took an interest in the FinTech possibilities in Lithuania in 2017, the central bank said, adding that half of them were granted licenses, including four licenses for an electronic money institution and one license of a payment institution.

During his visit in China, Vasiliauskas plans to present the main advantages of Lithuania's regulatory landscape, including having one of the shortest licensing processes in the EU and a wide range of possible business models -- from an e-money or payment institution to a specialized bank.

It is estimated that by 2024 the annual growth of the global peer-to-peer lending market will amount to almost 50 percent in the country.

Lithuania has been consistently developing relations with China's financial sector, the central bank said. The two countries have agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of securities regulation and inked an agreement to exchange supervisory information.