The World Economic Forum's Global Future Council Annual Meeting 2024 was held in Dubai from October 15th to 17th, 2024. Zhang Xiaoyan, Associate Dean and Chair Professor of Finance at the PBC School of Finance at Tsinghua University, was invited to attend and delivered a keynote speech on behalf of the Global Future Council on the Future of Resilient Financial Systems on the afternoon of the 16th, introducing the main recent achievements of the council.
Group photo of the meeting
In her keynote speech, Zhang first pointed out that as the global economy becomes increasingly polarized, inclusive finance, as a key tool for improving the resilience of individuals and enterprises, is attracting more and more attention.
Subsequently, Zhang Xiaoyan introduced the white paper “Global Inclusive Finance Practices: Case Studies of China, India and the United States” (hereinafter referred to as the “White Paper”), which was jointly written by the Research Center for Wealth Management of the PBC School of Finance at Tsinghua University and the World Economic Forum.
The cover of the report
The White Paper brings together five cases from China, India and the United States to explore the experiences of governments and the private sector in promoting inclusive finance. These include India's Digital Relief Program; China Digital Currency; Digital banks in China promote the development of small and micro enterprises; Racial disparities in US loan settlement fees; and China's Intelligent Investment Assistant (RIA).
Despite the remarkable progress made in inclusive finance around the world, there are still some key challenges. These include the digital divide; the privacy and security; and the complexity of financial products. To solve these problems, the government and the private sector need to strengthen cooperation to build a more inclusive, transparent and equitable financial ecosystem and achieve global inclusive finance development by improving digital infrastructure, improving the transparency and simplifying the processes of financial products.
