Introduction to the special issue on electronic commerce in banking and finance

It is with great satisfaction that I announce the publication of our latest special issue on Electronic Commerce in Banking and Finance, an academic compilation that amalgamates 24 scholarly papers from preeminent researchers in the field.These papers explore the financial applications of electronic commerce platforms, offering a critical analysis of their successes and failures within the industry.Moreover, they provide an in-depth academic examination of operational mechanisms and delineate the essential factors that are pivotal for achieving profitability in their application.Many of these articles address financial innovation in China.The Chinese context is particularly intriguing due to the unique synthesis of central planning in telecommunications, banking, and consumer payments, which has cultivated a diverse and innovative array of new financial technologies.These technologies, largely unexamined outside the Chinese milieu, remain somewhat obscure to both practitioners and scholars, irrespective of their geographic location.Furthermore, other papers in this issue rigorously assess the effects of e-commerce platforms on the responsiveness of financial systems during various crises, encompassing both societal and healthrelated emergencies, as well as crises associated with financial markets.Additionally, certain articles critically evaluate the emerging and occasionally contentious financial applications involving technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and robotics.Of particular note in this special issue are research articles on the following:1.An empirical exploration into the factors that cultivate consumer trust and adoption of fintech in China.2. An investigation into the potential escalation of risk-taking behaviors among commercial banks due to fintech development, with specific evidence from China.