· CreditEase Founder and CEO Tang Ning to discuss inclusive finance at 2016 APEC CEO Summit

· Report developed in partnership with China Banking Association Chief Economist Ba Shusong

Beijing, November 18th – Leading Chinese financial technology company CreditEase today announced the release of its English language report, the Report on the Practice of Inclusive Finance in China (the “Report”). CreditEase has released the Report ahead of the participation of the company’s founder and CEO, Tang Ning, at the APEC CEO Summit (the “CEO Summit”) in Lima, Peru. At the CEO Summit, Mr. Tang will discuss how technology and innovation are creating new paths to economic development.

The Report, which was developed by CreditEase, Chief Economist Ba Shusong at the China Banking Association and Harvard Business Review China (HBRC) and released in Chinese in May, focuses on how technology and innovation are changing inclusive finance practices in China. CreditEase’s new report looks at China’s current inclusive financing industry from four perspectives – policy-setting, supervision, technology and commercial operations.

Since the goal to “develop inclusive finance” was introduced by the Chinese government in 2013, corporations like CreditEase have worked to bring this agenda to life. Inclusive finance is based on the understanding that the traditional finance system and traditional financial products are only made available to individuals in certain financial situations. For other groups, who may not have traditional forms of credit or stable incomes, obtaining loans and other forms of financing is challenging. Inclusive finance attempts to use technology to expand the existing boundaries of financial services and increase access to these services.

“Finance traditionally is thought of as only available to some members in society. Inclusive finance takes a different approach, enabling more people to actively participate in the economy and create their own livelihoods,” said Mr. Tang. “CreditEase has been a pioneer in the inclusive finance field in China. Major beneficiaries of our efforts have included millions or even billions of small and micro entrepreneurs, people in working class and even farmers.”

In the letter introducing the report, Mr. Tang proposes three crucial steps in the development of the inclusive finance industry:

· The first stage is gaining trust and credits to get a small amount of capital;

· The second stage refers to a variety of financial services such as deposits; wealth management, payments and insurance, etc.;

· The third stage is to help people who are not able to enjoy the traditional financing services to grow up.

Over the past 10 years, CreditEase Inclusive Finance has provided hundreds of billions worth of RMB in loans and served more than two million people in need of financial support, with an average loan size of 50,000 RMB. The business has built a national network covering 251 cities (including HK) and 93 rural areas. In addition, YiQiFin, CreditEase’s supply chain fintech platform, aims to raise 20 billion RMB for more than 20,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises within three years. Yinongdai, CreditEase’s non-profile loan program, which matches low-income rural farmers with charitable lenders to provide them with the means to lift themselves out of poverty has raised over 200 million RMB to help 20,000 women and farmers jumpstart their business. Finally, the financing and leasing arm of CreditEase Inclusive Finance covers more than 20 provinces and regional areas and involves more than 180 kinds of agricultural equipment.

“Technology is making things possible in finance that were never possible before. Through innovations in big data, we are able to creatively assess credit and give loans to people who did not previously qualify. We are going beyond helping people by empowering them to determine the direction of their lives.”