China has taken the lead in many areas of financial technologies, such as mobile payments and e-commerce, said Paul Schulte, founder of Schulte Research, an institute focusing on the research of financial institutions and financial technology.

Schulte joined speakers at the 14th Vision China event organized by China Daily and the Information Office of Tianjin Municipal People's Government with the theme of "Intelligence New Era: Innovation, Energization and Ecology" broadcast online to a global audience on Tuesday night.

He said one of the reasons for the popularity of digital payment in China is that the country doesn't have large credit card companies trying to maintain market share. As a result, China was able to create a new type of payment infrastructure from scratch, Schulte said.

In addition, the country is moving ahead in autonomous cars, battery storage and certainly in superfast 5G technology, Schulte said. "China's move into 5G is very much geared toward an industrial build to address industrial issues, like smart cities, urban planning and the integration of healthcare systems."