On June 18th, the School of Finance, Renmin University of China (SFRUC) held a seminar focusing on future development of the Master of Science in FinTech (MS_FinTech) Program. FinTech industry experts and scholars were invited to offer suggestions about the course design, internship and career guidance of the MS_FinTech program. The seminar was hosted by Prof. QIAN Zongxin, Director of the MS_FinTech Program.

After a brief introduction of the program by Prof. QIAN, Mr. LI Qinghao, Co-founder and CEO of NewBanker, spoke high of the curriculum of the MS_FinTech Program. LI pointed out that the combination of technology and finance in each country is highly related to the political environment, cultural tradition and user habits of the country. Only by understanding the governance mode of the country can we better use FinTech to create social value.

Mr. ZHU Jiang, President of China Digital Scene and Technology Institute believed that FinTech serves the real economy and is closely related to the industrial scenarios. Then he pointed out that in daily teaching and management of the MS_FinTech Program, it is necessary to present China's profound cultural heritage while showing respect to the culture and economic system of students’ home country.

Mr. YAN Wentao, president of CCX Credit Technology, reviewed the development of China's FinTech in recent years. He stressed that in addition to the teaching of technology application, including AI, Blockchain and Data, the program should also focus on courses like financial market and corporate finance to enhance students' understanding of the essentials of finance. Moreover, YAN pointed out that FinTech regulation policies and analysis should also be incorporated into the course.

Mr. XUE Hongyan, vice president of Suning Institute of Finance mainly puts forward three suggestions on the curriculum of the program. First, the program can organize a series of lectures with the theme of 'China's FinTech', inviting industry experts to share their own experiences in the development of China's FinTech industry. Second, 5G and the Internet of Things should be added into the courses. Third, technical courses such as programming should be included in the curriculum to improve students' hands-on skills.

Prof. LUO ping, chief scientist of PAI TECH, deputy researcher and director of Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences offered two suggestions on the content of the courses. First, it is important for students to master the use of professional software such as Python while learning the concepts of FinTech. Second, the knowledge of FinTech should be closely combined with specific scenarios.

Mr. ZHU Taihui, Research Director of Jingdong Institute of Digital Science suggested to add “digital transformation of financial institutions” course into the curriculum according to the developing trend of FinTech.

Prof. SONG Ke from SFRUC reviewed the development of the research in Fintech of the school in the past few years and hoped that experts in the seminar would continue to support the teaching and scientific research in FinTech with SFRUC.

Concerning the internship and career guidance of the incoming students of MS_FinTech Program, all experts expressed their willingness to provide internship opportunities for MS_FinTech students and shared their views on China’s work opportunities for international students with FinTech background. As more and more Chinese companies expanded overseas business particularly under the Belt and Road Initiative, international students from MS_FinTech Program with both China knowledge and global vision can help Chinese FinTech firms better localize in each country and develop their global business.

In the end, Prof. QIAN gave his thanks to every participant in the seminar for their insightful sharing and looked forward to cooperating with them in course teaching and building more practice opportunities for the students.