Chinese financial startups lead the fintech race

Earlier this year, British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his determination to make the UK a world leader in fintech by 2020. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne also said he wanted the UK to become the global fintech capital. However, as the year drew to a close, their plans were thwarted by Chinese financial companies, which surprisingly occupied 7 spots on the list of the top 50 fintech companies published by Fintech Innovators . Two of these companies: ZhongAn Insurance ( #1 )   Hequ Installment   ( #4 ) holds a strong position in the top five.

ZhongAn is an online insurance company that is financially backed by Jack Ma, founder of retail giant Alibaba.

The Fintech 100 list is a joint effort by KPMG and H2 Ventures to analyze the global financial technology market, often referred to as "fintech," which also includes cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Warren Mead, president of Challenger Banks and Global Co-Lead Fintech, said: "The UK is clearly the leading centre for fintech, but with the rise of Chinese companies, its position is no longer secure. "

China is undoubtedly challenging the UK’s reputation as a fintech leader; a year ago, only one Chinese company made the list in this survey. Other well-known Chinese companies that have taken a place on this coveted list include Lufax ( #11 ), Shanyin ( #39 ), Fangdd ( #40 ), JiMuBox ( #45 ), and Rong360 ( # 47 ).

Bitcoin companies Coinbase ( #26 ) and 21 Inc ( #48 ) also made the list of the top 50 fintech companies. Coinify and Elliptic are two bitcoin companies that occupy the top 50 emerging stars. Blockchain startup Colu made the list of companies to watch.

It is foreseeable that there will be several Chinese Bitcoin or blockchain companies trying to secure a spot on the list. With Bitcoin trading at an all-time high, the number of companies involved is bound to grow rapidly. In addition, with such a dazzling performance in 2015 , we can certainly expect to see a Chinese Bitcoin company on the list in 2016.