PwC: AI Spending Gap at Mainland China, Hong Kong Firms
Financial firms in mainland China and Hong Kong are spending significantly less than their global peers on AI despite claiming it to be a driver of strategic transformation, according to PwC.
The vast majority of financial firms in mainland China and Hong Kong, including those in the banking, insurance, and asset and wealth management sectors, view artificial intelligence (AI) as a driver of strategic transformation rather than just efficiency gains, according to a report by PwC.
Use cases being adopted range from enhanced customer service to fraud detection and predictive analysis. Reduced risk, more effective compliance, increased revenues and lower costs were all named as AI-related contributors to the return on investments.
Allocation of Tech Budget
However, 61 percent of financial institutions (FI) surveyed are allocating just 10 percent or less of their technology budget to AI, indicating a 30 to 40 percent spending gap compared to the global standard. The top three barriers to greater AI investments cited were data availability (30 percent), regulatory concerns (20 percent) and the need to prioritize existing core systems (14 percent).
«FIs see AI as an unmissable opportunity to transform their operating models and service offerings. But long-term investment will be required to overcome the challenges to wider AI deployment,» said Matthew Phillips, PwC China financial services industry leader.
The report is based on a survey of 201 financial services professionals and with 20 in-depth interviews conducted between October 2025 and January 2026.
