The banking industry will face three challenges in 2014, said Jiang Jianqing, chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), when he addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Saturday.

Economic uncertainty is the first challenge, said Jiang Jianqing. "Today we are optimistic about strong economic recovery in the U.S., but we have different views on recovery in the EU and in emerging economies. In addition, we are not yet sure of the impact on the international economy of the U.S. tapering of quantitative easing."

Jiang Jianqing believes the second challenge comes from supervision. Different countries impose different regulations on their financial industries, and some parts of the financial sector are experiencing difficulties in dealing with the challenge posed by diverse supervisory regimes.

The third challenge will result from changes in technology. The banking industry is encountering a stiff challenge from Internet-based industries including the development of online financial services and big data applications.

However, Jiang Jianqing believes challenges also mean opportunities. He remains cautiously optimistic towards the outlook of the banking industry in 2014.