Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Thursday the integration of artificial intelligence technology into the fintech industry could help turbocharge financial development across Asia.

His remarks came as the government-owned investment body, Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC), launched a strategic partnership with locally-based virtual bank, WeLab Bank, to further enrich the city's fintech ecosystem.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the partnership, Chan noted that the city's fintech industry, with firms numbering some 1,100, has seen rapid growth over the past year, rising by five places to rank fourth on the Global Financial Centres Index in terms of fintech evaluations.

He added that it's essential for the industry to incorporate the latest AI technology into its services so as to transform the finance and banking systems.

"For instance, AI technologies can uncover correlations between seemingly unrelated factors, enabling the identification of credit worthiness in individuals who might otherwise be regarded as unqualified for lending," Chan said.

"This is exactly what WeLab is achieving for its innovative technologies.

"I'm confident that through this partnership HKIC and WeLab can assist more local and regional enterprises to leverage AI and fintech, thereby unlocking the potential of finance, to support economic development across Asia."

Speaking to reporters after the event, HKIC chief executive Clara Chan hoped the strategic partnership can help more SAR firms tap into overseas markets.

"WeLab has already established a foundation in southeast Asia, their contacts, experience, and ability there can help these companies to accelerate their expansion into the overseas markets there," she said.

Launched in 2019, WeLab Bank said it has been ramping up its adoption of AI in recent years and has integrated DeepSeek's AI models into its local system.

The virtual lender has just reported its first monthly profit in December as it speeds up expansion into the southeast Asian market, including Indonesia and Thailand.

HKIC, meanwhile, has also struck a strategic partnership deal with chipmaker, StarFive, to speed up the adoption of the popular RISC-V chips, an open-source architecture used to design less-sophisticated semiconductors, in the SAR.