Charles Li, founder and chairman of MicroConnect and former CEO of Hong Kong Exchange & Clearing Ltd. (HKEX), addressed the 2026 Sina Finance Global Capital Summit today, stating that the traditional 'big finance' model reliant on large institutions is no longer suitable for the current inclusive consumption economy underpinned by countless micro and small enterprises.
He announced that MicroConnect will 'embark on a new journey' on August 3rd, marking its fifth anniversary, emphasizing that the explosion of AI technology over the past two challenging years of exploring micro-finance has become the crucial energy source for solving the economic viability of small investments and enabling 'distributed generation' at the grassroots level.
Li pointed out that in the global economy, particularly in emerging markets like China, India, and Latin America, the rising middle class and vast populations are driving a transformation towards a consumption-based economy.
Today's business landscape is no longer supported solely by large corporations but is built on a foundation of numerous small businesses.
He cited the example of NVIDIA's recent revelation that chip sales are shifting towards a revenue-sharing model, illustrating the immense energy being released by the micro-economy, which the traditional financial system is failing to reach.
Using a human anatomy metaphor, Li described China as having a robust infrastructure (the skeleton) and a rich consumer economy (the muscle), with the financial system acting as the blood.
The internet and digital revolution have already cleared the 'neural network' (data) and 'capillary endings' (payment systems), making even the smallest transaction possible, yet the financial 'blood' cannot flow to these extremities due to its bulkiness and prohibitively high compliance and operational costs.
Li reflected that the original intent behind founding MicroConnect was to 'break up the blood clots,' moving beyond traditional equity or debt to fragment investments down to the 'contract level.'
He stated that over the past period, MicroConnect invested 4.4 billion yuan of its own capital into the micro-market, proving the absolute feasibility of this highly diversified, non-equity, non-debt partnership contract model, which also allows for clear risk assessment.
However, he candidly admitted that the past two years were 'exceptionally dark and painful' for MicroConnect, primarily because the team vastly underestimated the operational costs of capturing and evaluating tiny contracts at the grassroots level.
Li believes the advent of the AI era provides the solution.
Leveraging AI technology, systems can now describe targets, assess contracts, and facilitate cognitive connections across tens of thousands of end markets at an extremely low cost, thereby solving the economic feasibility issue of micro-investments.
He previewed that on August 3rd, its fifth anniversary, MicroConnect will showcase a new beginning powered by AI technology.
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