Financial Literacy in China as an Innovation Opportunity

The purpose of the study was to get insights of the financial knowledge, behavior, and attitudes of the young generation of Chinese (Millenials or Little Emperors, i.e. born between 1980–1995), in order to find and exploit design opportunities to improve the financial wellbeing of our target group. Our paper presents an introduction to the research area, the current technological trends, the results of our initial study, and further directions both for research and design of solutions targeted at our tentative users. Our results suggest that there is a strong growth in smartphone adoption and a growing availability of mobile applications targeted at managing finances, and conducting payments. However, the young Chinese have a middle-to-low level of financial literacy, and mimic the conservative behavior of their parents and family, who prefer to hold cash (or gold) in favor of investment instruments. There is a number of design opportunities to leverage our insights to improve the financial health and wellbeing of our target user group presented in our work.