The day began in Shanghai with a briefing by Li Lin, vice president of Pudong Development Bank (SPDB)'s research institute. He spoke about the bank’s long-standing commitment to technology and digital transformation, drawing on its earlier joint venture with Silicon Valley Bank and its role in pioneering new financial solutions. Li explained that banking today is undergoing three simultaneous transformations: from traditional banking to modern banking, from finance to financial technology and from technology back into finance. He characterised the current environment as the “BANI” era, an acronym for brittle, anxious, nonlinear and incomprehensible, in which uncertainty must be recognised not only as a source of risk but also as a field of opportunity. He urged financial institutions to rethink old strategic frameworks, which he argued could not cope with the speed and unpredictability of today’s artificial intelligence (AI)-driven disruptions. The delegates were then taken to SPDB’s iconic branch on the Bund, where they were shown how the bank blends its historic legacy with new digital capabilities. From Shanghai, the group travelled by high-speed rail to Hangzhou to visit MYbank, the digital bank under Ant Group that was established in 2015. MYbank operates entirely online without physical branches and has become known for its “three-one-zero” approach, in which small business owners can apply for a loan in three minutes, receive approval in one second, and complete the process with zero human intervention. The bank now serves more than 68 million micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) and 72% of these customers are first-time borrowers. The delegates were given a detailed presentation of MYbank’s so-called “bird systems”, a suite of AI-enabled tools that power its lending and financial services. The Tomtit System employs satellite remote sensing to support rural finance, allowing farmers to map their fields and crops on a mobile phone and secure loans based on verified acreage and projected yields. The Lark System provides an interactive platform that processes diverse SME documents through AI-driven recognition, enabling higher credit limits and faster decisions. The Goose System focuses on industry chain finance by identifying overlooked suppliers and distributors and granting them access to credit. Finally, the Cuckoo System forecasts SME cashflows, helping clients deploy idle funds effectively in suitable wealth products. Beyond these, MYbank has advanced its wealth management business by partnering with subsidiaries of major banks and positioning itself as a distributor of financial products, as well as deepening its commitment to sustainability through a green SME standard, green loans to more than 4,300 projects and support for public welfare entrepreneurs. Delegates actively engaged in a question-and-answer session with vice president and chief information officer Gao Song, together with Zheng Bo, general manager of the AI department, raising issues around data integration, credit underwriting to collections and nonperforming loans, the organisational embedding of AI, cybersecurity and fraud, regulatory oversight and talent development. They emphasised the importance of government involvement in building unified data ecosystems, clarified that fraud losses are treated separately from non-performing loans, and noted that with 67% of its workforce in technology roles it has developed strong internal training structures to scale its operations. The final visit of the day took delegates to DeepRobotics, a company founded in 2017 that specialises in quadruped and humanoid robots. They were greeted with live demonstrations of three different robotic models: small robots designed for research and entertainment, mid-sized models built for warehouse inspection and firefighting, and the flagship X30 unit capable of carrying loads of up to 85 kilogrammes, climbing stairs, navigating narrow spaces and being equipped with sensors for industrial inspection. The robots showcased autonomous charging, agile mobility and inspection capabilities, highlighting their potential to replace human labour in hazardous or costly environments. Delegates were briefed that DeepRobotics now operates in more than 40 countries, with partnerships that include Amazon and Singapore Power and that its robots are already deployed in scenarios ranging from public security and power grids to mining and emergency rescue. The company’s mission isto develop industrial-grade robots capable of handling real-world safety and inspection tasks. The company was founded by its chief executive officer, Zhu Qiuguo, an associate professor at Zhejiang University. Delegates asked about the company's cost structures, global competitiveness and regulatory acceptance, including the potential for robots to replace police dogs in airports. The company highlighted applications in security, search and rescue, and autonomous operations, stressing the advantages of robotics in high-cost and high-risk environments. By the close of the day, participants had been immersed in three contrasting but complementary aspects of China’s AI ecosystem: the strategic framing of uncertainty and innovation by a leading commercial bank, the operationalisation of AI in SME finance by a fully digital bank, and the deployment of autonomous robots in real-world industrial and safety scenarios. The journey from Shanghai to Hangzhou captured the breadth and depth of China’s capacity to innovate, demonstrating how financial institutions and technology firms are reshaping the future through data, artificial intelligence and automation.
