The Optics Valley Incubates Its Finance Function

By Liu Dongli & Zhang Shanni

Aiming for a world-class financial technology center

Connecting creativity with capital was a formula for Silicon Valley’s successful development into the world’s center of technological innovation. It’s a sure bet that Silicon Valley wouldn’t even exist as we know it today without capital investment.

On December 26, 2017, Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone held a conference at China Optics Valley Convention and Exhibition Center in conjunction with the “Five Valleys Joint Development Project” promoting the growth of Optics Valley, Biomedics Valley, SmartTech Valley, Finance Valley, and Talent Valley to release the overall development plan for Finance Valley.Additionally, a special forum for Finance Valley’s development and the publicly held companies’ tour of Optics Valley was conducted simultaneously.Meanwhile, the Optics Valley Financial Holding Group and the Optics Valley Industry Development Fund with a registered capital of 50 billion yuan have come into operation.

Wuhan Finance Valley aspires to develop itself into one of the world’s top fintech centers, modeled after the Silicon Valley in the United States and Shenzhen’s Qianhai District in China’s Guangdong Province. By the year 2020, its development into a new major pilot zone for financial development,credit facility, and capital innovation in China will be complete.

Many well-known financial institutions have established their affiliated agencies in Optics Valley.Yet without adequate and concentrated financial backing, Optics Valley still lacks self-sufficientfinancial institutions which are able to resolve their own solvency issues. This shortcoming has become increasingly significant since the establishment of Wuhan Branch affiliated to Hubei Pilot Free Trade Zone.

创意和资本的高效对接，是美国硅谷崛起为全球科创中心的秘密。没有资本就没有硅谷。

2017年12月26日，在中国光谷科技会展中心，武汉东湖高新区举行了光谷、药谷、智谷、金谷、才谷 “五谷共建”推进会、金谷发展暨上市公司光谷行专场活动，对外发布“金谷”发展规划。光谷金融控股集团和光谷500亿元的产业发展基金隆重挂牌。

据此，武汉金谷将建设全球领先的科技金融创新中心，对标硅谷、深圳前海等地区。到2020年，形成国内领先的新金融集聚发展先行区、资本融通便利先行区、资本市场创新先行区，目标是最终建成全球领先的科技金融创新中心。

此前，在光谷区域内的多家知名金融机构多是其分支机构，平台规模较小，相对分散，光谷始终缺乏能自主“闯关”的金融主体。这一短板在湖北自贸区武汉片区挂牌以来，尤为明显。

对于初创型企业来说，在海关与外管局之间来回奔走，耗费的各项成本巨大。组建光谷金融控股集团（下称“光谷金控”），便成为必然之举。

作为核心空间载体，总占地55公顷的“金融谷”正在建设，规划布局科技金融、财富管理、平台服务三大主体功能。“金谷”空间布局已初具雏形。

目前，“金谷”核心主体初步搭建完毕，按“政府主导切入、市场主导运作”思路，以打造国际领先的现代科技金融综合控股集团为目标，成立光谷金融控股集团；500亿光谷产业发展基金设立，正在引导设立2500亿母基金。光谷科技银行、光谷科技证券、光谷科技保险、光谷科技租赁……国内外知名科技金融机构纷纷落户，金融总部聚集区正在形成。

接下来，东湖高新区将邀请全球范围内的知名金融机构、投资机构、产业集团共同参与光谷产业发展基金，参与“五谷”建设。

注：五谷共建——以“光谷”品牌为引领，推进光谷、药谷、智谷、金谷、才谷“五谷”建设。推进光电产业转型升级，建成享誉世界的“光谷”；提升生物产业竞争力，建设具有国际竞争力的“药谷”；要全力培育智能产业，建设具有国际影响力的“智谷”；提升科技金融服务水平，建设具有全国影响力的“金谷”；推进全球人才自由流动与自在生活工作，建设全球知名的“才谷”。

For start-up enterprises often being shuttled between Customs and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, soaring costs may have been a major deterrent, thus the establishment of the Optics Valley Financial Holding Group (hereinafter referred to as “the OVFHG”) proved necessary.

The 55-hectare main zone of Finance Valley is currently under construction. The blueprints list three main divisions: the financial technology sector,finance management sector, and platform service sector. Finance Valley’s initial layout is already complete.

The initial construction work on the main part of the Finance Valley is now complete. Based on a hybrid “government-led and market-oriented model,” the OVFHG was founded with the ambition of building a world-class integrated fintech holding group. It also set up a 50 billion yuan fund for industrial development in Optics Valley. Seed money of 250 billion yuan is currently being channeled into the fund. Famous fintech institutions home and abroad, including the Optics Valley Hitech Bank,the Optics Valley Hitech Securities Corporation, the Optics Valley Hitech Insurance Company, the Optics Valley Hitech Leasing Group and the like, have found a home in the Valley and formed the core of financial headquarters.

Going forward, the East Lake High-Tech Development Zone will invite celebrated financial and investment institutions and industrial groups from across the world to join in the Optics Valley Industrial Development Fund and become a partner in the joint development of the Five Valleys.(Translation: Liu Jie)

Note: The joint development of the Five Valleys refers to the development of Optics Valley,Biomedics Valley, SmartTech Valley, Finance Valley,and Talent Valley, led by the brand and development of Optics Valley. The main targets are: to build Optics Valley into a celebrated high-tech zone by upgrading and transforming the optoelectronics industrial base; to make Biomedics Valley internationally competitive by enhancing the competitiveness of the biotechnology industrial base; to increase the international influence of SmartTech Valley by fully developing local smart technology industry;to increase the national influence of Finance Valley by improving the financial technology service level;and to build Talent Valley into a place popular and known throughout the world, which boosts the free flow of global talents and provides an easy-going environment for them to live and work.