As China grows, our annual awards for financial service providers in the country grow, too.
In November, Global Finance leaders traveled to Beijing to honor the winners in our ninth annual Stars of China Awards. Representatives of the main banks that are active in China—domestic and foreign—joined us at the Ritz Carlton Hotel to celebrate the best of financial institutions in China and their products and services. It was an opportunity to celebrate excellence, ingenuity and innovation in many different areas and segments of the financial markets.
This event is recognition of the key relevance of the country for the world economy and for Asia, an opportunity to reflect on how much and how fast the Chinese economy has grown. No single country has a specific award dedicated by our magazine except for China, and it is certainly not an accident.
We took advantage of the occasion to interview top executives at two of China’s leading financial institutions—ICBC and China Merchants Bank—both award-winners this year. With them we discussed the prospects for the banking business in the country, including the growth of private banking, as well as innovation and fintech.