By Zhu Junsheng & Cai Jianying, Research Team on “China’s Financial Technology: Status-quo, Advance Trend and Development Strategy”, Research Institute of Finance, DRC

Research Report, Special Issue, No.36, 2019 (Total 1664) 2019-5-10

Abstract: Traditional insurance companies are important market players in the development of financial science and technology. It is the trend for the continued development of insurance industry in the future to rely on the development of financial science and technology so as to maintain strong competitiveness and a leading position. Ping An Insurance Group has been actively involved in developing financial science and technology since its founding, aiming at the transformation from asset-driven to technology-driven development. It is a prime example for traditional insurance companies to develop financial science and technology. Ping An's case has provided the following experience for the application of financial science and technology in the insurance industry. First, it is necessary for insurance companies to increase the budget and personnel inputs in financial science and technology, actively develop financial science and technology, and make constant transformation and upgrading in step with the progress of information technology. Second, the insurance companies need to, in light of their own financial businesses, boost the development of financial technology by way of the core technologies such as intelligent recognition, big data, AI, blockchain and cloud platform, so as to sharpen the competitive edge of traditional financial business. Third, the insurance companies need to cooperate with external partners and other financial institutions by providing science and technology to build eco-system-based platforms for the provision of financial, health care, automobile, real estate and other services as well as the building of smart cities. Fourth, insurance companies need to realize the combination of science and technology with business and the industrial eco-system, and expand the business models of "comprehensive finance plus science and technology" and "science and technology plus eco-system".

Key words: financial technology, insurance industry, eco-system