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Finance

China second to US in global AI finance index, with Hong Kong third as city hub

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China has emerged as the world’s second most competitive country for artificial intelligence in finance, ranking behind the US but well ahead of the rest of Asia, according to a global index.

China scored 83.41 in the Global AI Competitiveness Index, trailing the US at 98.84 and ahead of the UK at 78.26, a report released on Wednesday by think tank Deep Knowledge Group showed. Switzerland ranked fourth, followed by Singapore, Germany, Saudi Arabia and India.

The world’s second-largest economy outperformed all countries in financial sector AI maturity, earning a score of 90 for its strong adoption of AI across banking, insurance, fintech and investment management.

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It also performed well in categories including innovation ecosystem (80), and talent, education, and research and development (76). The index additionally assessed areas such as regulation, infrastructure and data readiness, and capital availability.

“China was assessed as the strongest among the top-ranked countries at translating AI capacity into production-grade deployment in financial services – the ‘last mile’ from capability to operational systems,” said Dmitry Kaminskiy, general partner at Deep Knowledge Group.

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Government support and market demand drove a strong capacity for AI in finance, the report said. China strategically invested in AI-driven financial services, with US$269 billion in total funding directed towards AI start-ups, many of which focused on fintech and blockchain applications, it added. That compared with more than US$310 billion in the US and around US$152 billion in the UK.

With 2,065 AI enterprises focused on finance, China’s sector was expanding rapidly, particularly in mobile payments, AI-driven lending such as credit scoring models and digital banking solutions.