China cemented its status as a leading international force in financial technology services this year, claiming five of the top 10 spots in the annual list of the world’s major companies in the sector. The list was compiled by the United Kingdom-based advisory firm KPMG and Australian investment company H2 Ventures. China’s Ant Financial, which owns and operates the country’s largest online payment platform, Alipay, topped the 100 Leading Fintech Innovators 2016 list. Student micro-loan site Qudian, formerly known as Qufenqi, was second, internet-based lending and wealth management platform Lufax ranked fourth, online insurance business ZhongAn was fifth, and internet financial services provider JDFinance was 10th. Financial technology companies are ranked based on four factors: total capital raised, rate of capital raising, location, and degree of sub-industry disruption. In the first quarter of the year, financial technology companies in China attracted USD2.4 billion from venture capital companies in nine deals, or 49% of the USD4.98 billion in investment recorded globally in the sector.