China’s fintech stocks soar ahead of the country’s digital currency launch
Shares of China’s fintech companies are rising as the country prepares to launch its digital yuan, which would reportedly create demand for security and payment services.
The CSI’s (China Securities Index Co.) Fintech Theme Index has gained over 50% so far in 2019, outperforming the broader market, according to a report from Reuters on Friday.
Shares of Beijing Certificate Authority, a provider of electronic authentication services, for instance, hit a record high this month after having risen by around 200% this year. While China’s biggest network security services provider, 360 Security Technology Inc, has seen its shares increase more than 50%.
Last month, Mu Changchun, deputy director of the People's Bank of China's (PBoC's) payments department, said that the country’s digital currency is "ready" after five years of research and development.
The official recently also said that the upcoming digital currency will be similar to Facebook's proposed stablecoin Libra, and could be used across major payment platforms such as WeChat and Alipay.
“We believe the PBOC would probably continue to use the current infrastructure of commercial banks, while the most important carrier of personal digital currency would be mobile phones,” Soochow Securities was quoted as saying in the Reuters report.
