CityUHK hosts 4th Hong Kong Conference on FinTech, AI, and Big Data in Business
On 31 May and 1 June 2025, City University of Hong Kong proudly hosted the 4th Hong Kong Conference for Fintech, AI, and Big Data in Business. Jointly organised by FinTech and Business Analytics Centre (FBAC), Department of Decision Analytics and Operations, Department of Economics and Finance, Hong Kong Institute for Data Science and Hong Kong Laboratory for AI-Powered Financial Technologies, the conference serves as a platform in the Asia-Pacific region for scholarly dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration in technology-driven business research.
This year’s conference welcomed nearly 100 participants from leading universities and institutions worldwide. Professor Stephen Shum, Dean of the College of Business, and Professor Alan Wan, Associate Provost (Academic Affairs) of the CityUHK, delivered the opening remarks on the two respective days, setting the tone for thoughtful inquiry and interdisciplinary engagement throughout the event.
Prof Wei Xiong delivers his keynote speech on 31 May, discussing “Structured Beliefs and Fund Investment”.
On the second day of the conference, Prof Yacine Aït-Sahalia presents his keynote on “So many jumps, so little news”.
A highlight of the conference was the keynote session featuring two world-renowned scholars from Princeton University: Professor Yacine Aït-Sahalia and Professor Wei Xiong. Their keynote speeches demonstrated the depth and originality characteristic of high-level academic scholarship and were well-received by the audience.
The academic programme included 12 paper presentations on topics such as AI in finance, text analytics, portfolio optimization, and behavioral finance. Each presentation was followed by discussions led by invited experts, fostering a dynamic environment for engagement and idea exchange.
A new addition this year was the poster session, featuring ten presentations by early-career researchers. Their work showcased innovative research designs and emerging perspectives, encouraging interactions and highlighting the vitality of the next generation of scholars.
Shikun (Barry) Ke (second from left) from Yale University received the Best Paper Award for his work entitled “Analysts' Belief Formation in Their Own Words”.
The Best Poster Award is presented to the paper “Factors or Fake? A New Look at Anomalies and the Replication Crisis”, co-authored by Siddhartha Chib (Washington University), Shuhua Xiao (City University of Hong Kong), and Lingxiao Zhao (Peking University).
To recognise outstanding contributions, the Best Paper Award was presented to Shikun (Barry) Ke from Yale University for his work entitled “Analysts' Belief Formation in Their Own Words,” and the Best Poster Award went to Shuhua Xiao from City University of Hong Kong for her co-authored paper entitled “Factors or Fake? A New Look at Anomalies and the Replication Crisis”.
With its continued commitment to excellence and impact, the Hong Kong Conference for Fintech, AI, and Big Data in Business is steadily building a global reputation as a driving force for research and collaboration. The conference aims to reflect the latest developments and shape the direction of future inquiry, fostering open exchange, nurturing new talent, and strengthening academic networks across borders.