Reimagining Financial Services with AI—A survey of the FS industry in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong SAR

March 2026

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PwC’s recent global study Value in Motion highlighted that leaders are increasingly expected to demonstrate how they are harnessing AI to reconfigure their business models. Which technologies or partnerships they should leverage may not be immediately clear, but they know that they must act or face being left behind. 

This research focuses on the Financial Services industry in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong SAR to understand how AI-enabled disruption is reshaping business models and achieving cost and revenue gains. 

In China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), AI has been elevated to a national strategic imperative. Financial services stand at the forefront of this transformation. Our research reveals how mainland and Hong Kong financial institutions (FIs) are already translating this policy momentum into tangible shifts: from cost-efficiency tools to engines for revenue creation and innovation. 

Our research was conducted between October 2025 and January 2026. We collected 201 responses and conducted 20 interviews targeting the Banking, Insurance, and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM) sectors in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong SAR. We find that the use of AI has moved from experiment to scale, to reinventing core processes and launching new services. However, challenges arise in data quality and governance, talent and organisational culture. We conclude that future winners will tackle three main issues:

1. They will actively build an AI-first culture, show commitment with senior management leading by example, and hire and develop talent that can understand both business and algorithms
2. They will improve their data governance systems, ensure data security and privacy as well as data quality, and transform data into strategic assets 
3. They will build an agile AI governance system that can control risks and promote innovation