With AI as the oar, Tencent and JD.com sail towards a new future of fintech
Since the first day of the reshuffle in internet finance, people have been searching for the best way to bring finance back to the real economy and industries. The later emergence of the concept of fintech also regarded this goal as its own development direction.
During this period, although many players have conducted a series of explorations and practices—with companies like Tencent and JD.com trying various new approaches to fintech—these methods never truly broke free from the shadow of the internet.
Take Tencent as an example. Since 2018, it has invested over 300 billion yuan, leveraging capabilities in cloud computing, databases, operating systems, security technologies, big data, and artificial intelligence to create a series of "user-friendly" full-stack independent innovation products that are fully compatible with China's mainstream software and hardware ecosystems.
Hu Liming, Vice President of Tencent Cloud, stated that the financial industry is using digital technologies like cloud computing, big data, AI, and blockchain to gradually break down data silos, improve financial service efficiency, reduce costs, and expand service boundaries.
At the same time, the financial industry has made significant progress in enhancing risk management capabilities, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of financial services for the real economy.
JD.com is no exception.
Through JD Supply Chain Finance Technology, JD.com has also embarked on new explorations in fintech's return to the real economy. To date, JD Supply Chain Finance Technology has expanded from consumer industries like 3C, ICT, and home appliances to include fast-moving consumer goods such as agricultural products, alcohol, and beverages, as well as sectors like motorcycles, electric bikes, jewelry, and chain hotels.
With the rapid development of emerging industries like new energy vehicles, smartphones, smart homes, and biopharmaceuticals, JD Supply Chain Finance Technology has also prioritized serving these sectors.
As the AI era dawns, fintech players, drawing on their past explorations and practices, are beginning to find the right ways and methods to return to and empower the real economy.
If we view Tencent and JD.com's past fintech explorations as accumulations, then AI is the new starting point for fintech.
AI: Bridging Fintech and the Real Economy
In the internet era, fintech's return to the real economy remained a slogan because internet players failed to find common ground with real-economy players.
In other words, the two sides never truly found mutually acceptable ways to communicate, preventing genuine integration.
With the advent of the AI era, everything has fundamentally changed.
Under AI's mechanisms, both fintech and real-economy players can undergo deep, transformative changes.
Many leading financial institutions and fintech companies have announced their adoption of open-source large models like DeepSeek, which can be customized for vertical sectors, marking the beginning of a new phase of high-quality development in finance.
For example, OneConnect, leveraging Ping An Group's AI capabilities and vast financial data, has actively embraced the open-source ecosystem by integrating models like DeepSeek and Tongyi Qianwen to offer full-scenario AI solutions. These help financial institutions train and promote vertical models for risk control, intelligent customer service, precision marketing, and operational optimization, achieving efficient fusion of technology and business needs.
Clearly, AI is triggering a comprehensive transformation in fintech.
As this transformation unfolds, fintech and real-economy players are finding common "elements" under AI's influence, enabling them to integrate rather than remain separate entities.
From this starting point, fintech's return to the real economy is no longer a slogan but a tangible reality.
Ultimately, AI's role in bridging fintech and the real economy—rather than keeping them separate—is the key to making this return possible.
The fundamental aspect of AI's new approach is that it transforms fintech and the real economy from separate entities into interconnected, mutually empowering ones, making fintech's return to the real economy no longer a dream.
AI: Merging Fintech and the Real Economy
In essence, fintech's return to the real economy is a process of integrating the digital and real economies.
Players like Tencent and JD.com, through their new explorations under the digital economy framework, were actually seeking ways to merge the two. However, they never found the "new species" resulting from this fusion.
With the AI era, things have improved. In a way, AI has become the product of fintech and the real economy's "fusion."
In this new product, fintech and the real economy are no longer separate but interconnected and mutually reinforcing.
Take JD Supply Chain Finance Technology as an example. In 2024, its product procurement financing helped clients in smartphones, tablets, and healthcare increase financing by 12x and boosted merchant sales by 3x. That year, Jingbaobei provided services to 140 suppliers of Tier 1 and 2 energy-efficient home appliances, disbursing 2.369 billion yuan in financing.
These measures injected liquidity into 3C, ICT, home appliances, and FMCG sectors, alleviating temporary pressures from market uncertainties. JD Supply Chain Finance Technology's "four integrations" strategy—"upstream + downstream, internal + external, tech + finance, B2B + B2C"—has also helped industry partners build a deep supply chain finance system with remarkable results.
For instance, TCL Group's upstream suppliers of TV and air conditioner materials use JD Supply Chain Finance Technology's "Supply Loan" service, while nearly 100 downstream air conditioner dealers use its procurement financing solutions, achieving efficient supply chain coordination around TCL Group.
Hengsha, an authorized Apple reseller, also benefits. During new iPhone launches, Hengsha needs substantial funds for inventory. Traditional "spot 质押" and "liquidity loans" couldn't meet the demand due to the industry's fast-paced releases and short storage cycles.
This year, with JD Supply Chain Finance Technology's "Order Loan," Hengsha secured nearly 1.5 billion yuan in financing during pre-orders, successfully locking in Apple 新品 inventory and achieving efficient capital-supply chain 匹配。
Under AI's influence, fintech and the real economy have achieved true integration.
For both fintech and the real economy, AI is their new starting point. From this origin, their internal elements and operational logic will undergo profound changes.
From this perspective, AI-driven "fusion" will ultimately lead to the emergence of new fintech or real-economy derivatives.
When this happens, fintech will no longer be what it was but a new entity with real-economy applications and digital resources.
Thus, AI can truly be called fintech's new starting point.
AI: Transforming Fintech and the Real Economy
One key reason fintech's return to the real economy remained a slogan was the lack of genuine "transformation."
Fintech stayed fintech, and the real economy stayed the real economy.
Without true transformation, fintech's return was just lip service.
With the AI era, especially as AI-driven changes proliferate, fintech and the real economy are undergoing deep metamorphosis.
For example, nearly 100 Tencent Cloud products have been included in the 工委会软硬件图谱， with its industrial supply capabilities standing out in 融合创新。
Tencent has open-sourced over 160 projects and earned nearly 1,400 互认证 s, becoming a key player in the domestic ecosystem.
Technically, Tencent Cloud Enterprise (TCE) has become the financial industry's preferred 私有云 software, meeting advanced requirements like multi-core support and 云边一体， helping institutions manage 百万级 nodes.
Most notably, it built the industry's largest "CCB Cloud," managing over 60,000 nodes across 多功能区 s, regions, and chips.
Tencent also partnered with Shenzhen Stock Exchange to create "SZSE Cloud" and is preparing a financial 团体云 to drive innovation.
For instance, Tencent Cloud TDSQL helped Agricultural Bank of China become the first state-owned bank to use 原生分布式 databases for core systems, deploying 1,800 nodes across two locations and saving 大量 servers.
For fintech, it's no longer 独立于 the real economy but integrated into it. For the real economy, it's no longer just about physical assets but a fusion of digital and 实体 elements.
This mutual transformation justifies calling fintech a "new entity."
Under AI, fintech's metamorphosis makes it unrecognizable from its past self.
This is why AI is fintech's new starting point.
Closing Thoughts
People have long sought ways to bring finance back to the real economy but never succeeded.
A key reason was the lack of triggers for fintech-real economy transformation, fusion, and bridging.
Thus, fintech's return remained a distant dream.
With the AI era, especially as AI drives comprehensive 变革， fintech and the real economy are no longer separate but interconnected and mutually empowering.
Under AI, fintech embarks on a new journey, the real economy transforms, and a new era begins.
The copyright of this article belongs to the original author/organization.
The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not reflect the stance of the platform. The content is intended for investment reference purposes only and shall not be considered as investment advice. Please contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the content services provided by the platform.
