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Treasury & Capital Markets
Talent and technology top priorities for China’s CFOs
Chinese CFOs and treasurers demand higher level of technology support from their banking partners
Derrick Hong 15 Dec 2017

AS technology reshapes the finance industry, Chinese firms continue to focus expansion on the areas of talent acquisition and technological investment, according to a recent survey of 109 CFOs and treasurers based in China.

According to the recent survey by Deloitte, the top areas for resource allocation among Chinese CFOs and treasurers are new product development (with 73% planning to increase resource allocation in this area), IT investment (67%) and talent-related compensation (67%).

“This finding suggests that in order for businesses to come up with the best innovative strategies and solutions, it is imperative for them to develop a sound IT infrastructure while cultivating and retaining a solid talent base,” says William Chou, national managing partner of China CFO Program, Deloitte China.

While 6% of surveyed CFOs see their 2018 growth plan as reduced compared to 2017, 74% see their 2018 growth plan as higher than that of 2017.

“With an increasingly changing business environment, technology has become a key driver to new competition. Innovation is thus an important differentiator of competitiveness among existing market players, who need business agility to adjust their strategies in the face of digital and technological transformation,” says Chou.

On top of internal technology capability, Chinese CFOs and treasurers are demanding a higher level of technology support from their banking partners. While Chinese state-owned banks are putting a lot of resources in technology, non-state-owned banks are more favoured by Chinese CFOs and treasurers in terms of technology innovation.

“From our experience over the past few years, working with the big four state-owned banks is not as pleasant as working with joint stock commercial banks,” says a finance manager at a state-owned manufacturing company, in an interview with The Asset. The SOE recently changed their major cash management service provider from a state-owned bank to a joint stock commercial bank, which offered a better technology-based service.

“Chinese banks are now creative in new service ideas, not just in providing traditional financial services. And those new service ideas did address some corporates’ concerns,” the finance manager adds.

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