Micro Connect founder Gary Zhang has highlighted the importance of domestic consumption as a driver of economic growth at a recent conference. According to People’s Daily, Zhang told the conference on national consumption that “finance is the lifeblood of economic development.” Micro Connect, an asset exchange designed to pool funding for small businesses and start-ups, unveiled their operational workings in September this year. The Micro Star , alongside a framework of rules and guidelines, was described as the backbone of a revenue-based system that has so far covered 13,000 businesses across 200 mainland Chinese cities. “Innovation in income-based financing models is driven by widespread digitalisation trends, empowering more small and medium-sized enterprises to achieve high-quality development,” he added on Monday. A company’s income, credit status, and technological level are closely associated with its level of digitalisation, he emphasised. “Without digitalisation, ...