In the context of continuous adjustments to the global trade pattern, cross-border operations of enterprises are facing new challenges: how to reduce transaction costs, improve capital flow efficiency, and establish more stable financial connections have become core propositions of common concern to the Asia-Pacific business community.
At the 2026 APEC Business Leaders China Forum, financial interconnection has become an important issue of concern to the business community.
Industry guests from banking, payment and other fields believe that with the deepening of regional trade and investment, financial infrastructure is becoming an important base to support Asia-Pacific economic cooperation.
From cross-border settlement, to digital payment, to RMB asset allocation, financial services are gradually becoming an important capability for enterprises to compete globally from traditional trade supporting links.
Corporate globalization enters a new stage of financial services
In the past few decades, corporate internationalization has mainly revolved around the flow of goods. However, as the global layout of the industrial chain deepens, corporate demand for financial services is changing.
The relevant person in charge of the Bank of China stated at the forum that in the process of corporate globalization, financial institutions need to provide more comprehensive services.
In the past, the financial services that enterprises needed may have mainly focused on traditional deposits, loans, and exchange products, but now enterprises face more complex scenarios in cross-border development, including trade and investment, global fund management, exchange rate risk control, overseas localized operation support, etc. Financial institutions need to focus on the globalization needs of enterprises, promote cross-border financial product innovation, and help enterprises better participate in regional cooperation.
From an industrial perspective, as Chinese companies accelerate their expansion into overseas markets, financial services have become an important part of their international competitiveness.
Enterprises not only need to solve basic capital flow problems, but also need to solve multi-dimensional financial needs such as cross-border payments, exchange rate hedging, and overseas asset allocation in one stop. The strength of financial capabilities directly affects the success rate and profitability of enterprises’ cross-border layout.
RMB internationalization has entered more industrial scenarios
As regional trade connections strengthen, the connection between currency and financial systems has also become a focus of the business community.
The person in charge of the above-mentioned bank said that under the current background of open cooperation, the role of RMB in trade and investment settlement is increasing.
Each economy is facing new opportunities in terms of currency selection, reserve currency selection, and corporate trade and investment settlement.
For entrepreneurs, choosing RMB in trade, investment and settlement can effectively reduce exchange costs and avoid the risk of exchange rate fluctuations of major reserve currencies. Allocating RMB assets in this process is also a major opportunity for cross-border asset allocation for enterprises.
From a business perspective, currency selection is not only a financial issue, but also directly related to the stability of the industrial chain and trade efficiency.
When regional industrial cooperation becomes closer, stable and efficient RMB financial connections can reduce corporate operating costs, improve the efficiency of cross-border commercial activities, and provide solid support for the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region.
Digital payment has become a new infrastructure for regional interconnection
In addition to the traditional financial system, digital payment is also changing the way business is connected in the Asia-Pacific region.
The relevant person in charge of China UnionPay stated at the forum that payment infrastructure is becoming an important part of regional interconnection. UnionPay has been operating in 21 APEC economies for more than 20 years. APEC covers important economies around the world and plays an important role in global trade and economic cooperation.
Digital wallets have developed rapidly in recent years and have become an important tool for retail payments. In the past few years, digital wallet payment transactions accounted for more than 60% of the entire retail payment share.
With the popularity of mobile payments, the demand for cross-border payment facilitation has also increased.
For consumers, when traveling and doing business across borders, they hope to use familiar payment methods to complete transactions instead of re-applying for local accounts.
However, there are currently differences in digital wallet and QR code standards in different countries, so it is becoming increasingly important to promote the interoperability of payment systems.
This means that future regional economic connections will not only require logistics and trade networks, but also an inclusive and efficient payment network as support.
AI enters the payment field, and financial infrastructure faces new challenges
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, the financial industry is also ushering in new changes.
AI’s rapid entry into the payment industry has brought new application scenarios and also raised new security challenges.
For example, the development of smart payment needs to solve problems such as identity authentication, transaction intention confirmation, and payment security. The solution of these problems also requires consensus among countries, especially infrastructure operators and regulatory agencies, to form unified standards and collaboration mechanisms under a regional framework such as APEC.
From the perspective of the industry, future competition in the digital economy will not only be competition between enterprises, but also competition between infrastructures.
Whoever can establish more efficient, secure and open financial connections is likely to gain more initiative in regional economic cooperation.
From cross-border settlement to digital payment, from RMB asset allocation to financial technology applications, finance is becoming an important link for open cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.
In the past, trade connections mainly relied on ports, logistics and supply chains; in the future, financial infrastructure, digital payment networks and data connectivity capabilities will also become important factors affecting regional economic efficiency.
For enterprises, global competition is no longer just product and market competition, but comprehensive competition including industrial chain, supply chain, and financial capabilities.
