Narrator: Wu Haisheng, CEO of QFIN

As the Spring Festival approaches, a market filled with Fujian-flavor goods, including Liu'ao laver, Ningde yellow croaker, and Wuyi rock tea, is bustling with a vibrant atmosphere.

In Liu'ao town, Zhangpu county, Fujian Province, Liu'ao laver is undergoing a transformation. Renowned as a national geographical indication product, this traditional seafood is evolving into a premium New Year's delicacy, expanding its presence from small fishing ports to large markets. Lin Wenhui, a local farmer, said, "In the past, laver was sold in piles, but now it's sold by the kilogram." With the support of financial technology, he has upgraded equipment, expanded production capacity, and developed new products such as laver candy and laver sausage, turning this traditional seafood into a hot-selling item for the Chinese New Year. Behind this transformation is a vivid portrayal of the precise alignment between high-quality supply and consumer demand.

China's consumption structure is undergoing an upgrade, with consumers exhibiting strong demand for high-quality, culturally rich, and distinctive products. Geographical indication products, which embody regional characteristics and cultural heritage, connect farmers' incomes to the market supply chain, serving as a vital vehicle for rural revitalization and consumption stimulation. However, some geographical indication products face constraints such as financing difficulties and slow transformation, making it critical to address the bottlenecks preventing the conversion of geographical advantages into market advantages.

Under the guidance of the Fujian Provincial Market Supervision Administration, QFIN has launched the Financial Empowerment Initiative for Geographical Indication Products.

Leveraging AI risk-control models, multimodal sensing technology, and big-data credit assessment systems, the company has integrated geographical indication certification, production and sales data, and e-commerce performance into creditworthiness criteria and made consumer feedback a factor in loan eligibility. Lin secured a loan based on his geographical indication products and sales potential, enabling him to upgrade both production capacity and product offerings. The "Geographical Indication + Industry + Finance" model addresses the financing challenges faced by small- and medium-sized businesses while unblocking supply-demand bottlenecks.

Boosting consumption is not merely about increasing purchases. It involves structural optimization and high-standard alignment between supply and demand. The recommendations in the 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly call for expanding and upgrading goods consumption, providing clear direction for the role of consumer finance in empowering geographical indication products.

Looking ahead, efforts must focus on accurately matching diverse consumer demands across quality enhancement, structural optimization, and utility upgrades. This will empower more entrepreneurs like Lin to invest confidently, innovate, and secure stable income growth. Additionally, it will help more high-quality geographical indication products transcend their regions and reach consumers nationwide, injecting vitality into consumption-driven development.