Driven by both upgraded financial regulation and the digital transformation of financial institutions, the financial industry’s data productivity is accelerating — spanning data collection, governance, and utilization. China’s financial regulatory framework is undergoing a major evolution.
At the opening of the 2025 Lujiazui Forum, PBoC Governor Pan Gongsheng announced eight landmark financial opening measures, with the very first being the establishment of an interbank market trade repository.
As a cornerstone of modern macro-prudential regulation, the trade repository is designed to aggregate and analyze high-frequency transaction data across interbank bond, money, derivatives, gold, and bill markets. This unified data infrastructure serves financial institutions, supports macroeconomic policy, and strengthens market oversight.
On the micro-prudential front, May 2025 marked another milestone: the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) issued its notice on the nationwide rollout of the “One Form System” (一表通) for regulatory reporting — following more than three years of pilot programs.
The “One Form System” restructures the regulatory data reporting framework through penetrative, data-driven supervision, advancing digital and intelligent oversight, strengthening the “Five Pillars of Supervision,” and accelerating the digital transformation of banks. For regulators, high-quality data underpins any effective financial oversight system. From the trade repository to the One Form System, the rapid evolution of China’s supervisory reporting reflects this data-driven momentum.
At the same time, as China’s financial markets expand with new products and services, and AI-driven innovations give rise to new business models, financial institutions face mounting challenges. They must upgrade their data capabilities end-to-end to unlock data’s full potential and fuel their own transformation. Against this backdrop, fintech providers like Sunline are not just participants but key enablers and witnesses of this historic transformation.
01 | Continuous Upgrades in the Reporting System
The history of finance is also a history of regulatory evolution — and reporting has always been a key mirror of this progress. Beyond the PBoC and NAFR, regulators such as SAFE, tax, commerce, and statistics authorities all maintain their own reporting systems. Over time, these systems have evolved from manual submissions, to automation and platformization, and now toward digitalization and intelligence with initiatives like the One Form System.
On the macro level, the PBoC oversees systemic risks using multiple tools — including centralized reporting, trade repositories, the Jinshu system, PISA, interest rate filings, and deposit insurance data.
• As early as 1996, the Centralized Reporting System created the first nationwide financial statistics database, consolidating loans, deposits, branch and personnel data for macro-monitoring.
• The Jinshu system, launched in 2020, collects far more granular, source-level transaction data from financial institutions across all business lines.
On the micro side, regulators have consistently innovated reporting regimes to strengthen off-site supervision:
• “1104” reports (2003) captured core bank performance metrics including financials, risk, and capital adequacy.
• Customer Risk Reporting (2007) emerged for AML, CTF, consumer protection, and credit risk supervision.
• The EAST system (2012) established standardized data collection and an open analytics platform, enhancing off-site inspections with detailed risk data.
This progression reflects a clear trajectory: from static compliance to dynamic monitoring, from single metrics to holistic risk profiles, and from low-frequency aggregation to high-frequency, near real-time reporting.
02 | The Origins and Evolution of “One-Form”
The journey toward “One Form” illustrates how challenging, yet critical. This evolution is. Back in 2019, a provincial regulator in East China convened top domestic IT vendors to reimagine the regulatory reporting framework. While EAST was a breakthrough, pain points remained: difficulties in submission, gaps between systems, lagging timeliness, and lack of interactive online environments for ad-hoc tasks.
At the same time, banks faced exploding data volumes and regulators demanded more timely and accurate risk data. Reform was inevitable.
Initially, global IT giants like IBM and Teradata dominated data warehouse solutions in Chinese banks, but their models proved ill-fitted to new regulatory demands. Independent development attempts also stalled. Ultimately, regulators turned to domestic fintech leaders.
Sunline, already a proven leader in data governance and banking DWH projects, stood out with its localized models and strong project delivery record at institutions such as Agricultural Development Bank of China, Ping An Bank, and Hengfeng Bank.
Through joint collaboration, a new platform was created, unifying three major reporting systems with standardized data models and processing logic. Piloted in multiple East China banks, it delivered strong results — paving the way for nationwide rollout.
By May 20, 2025, NAFR formally mandated the One Form System nationwide, reshaping China’s regulatory reporting landscape.
Sunline’s One Form solutions are now live at multiple banks — including Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, Bank of Nanjing, and Sichuan Rural Credit Union, reinforcing its leading role in the regulatory reporting space.
03 | Reshaping the Financial Data Foundation
Whether the new trade repository or the nationwide One Form rollout, China’s financial regulation has entered a new digital and intelligent stage.For banks, however, this is a stress test for data governance. Daily-frequency, enterprise-wide reporting demands new levels of data quality, governance, architecture, and operations. Compliance pressure is rising, with penalties increasingly tied to reporting deficiencies.
Yet, challenges bring opportunity. Deloitte notes that the One Form initiative offers banks a unique chance to rebuild their data foundation, drive regulatory compliance digitalization, and accelerate intelligent transformation.
In parallel, China’s policy focus on data as a factor of production — with frameworks for data rights, circulation, and assetization — is amplifying the urgency. Banks must activate data as a core asset to boost competitiveness and contribute to national strategies such as building a “financially strong nation.” Sunline provides end-to-end data lifecycle solutions, extending far beyond reporting alone — spanning data asset management, integration, mid-platform architecture, and multi-scenario applications. With more than 200 global financial clients, Sunline has delivered market-leading solutions across DWH, risk management, regulatory reporting, and data governance.
Powered by industry experience + AI, Sunline has accumulated 30+ AI application scenarios, enabling banks to build secure, controllable data systems and continuously upgrade data value.
At the same time, Sunline is extending its impact globally. With operations across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, and deep engagements with 60+ overseas financial institutions, Sunline is not only advancing China’s financial modernization but also exporting Chinese fintech strength to the world stage.
