Hong Kong Calls for Greater Bank Participation in Digital Yuan Initiative

Hong Kong Calls for Greater Bank Participation in Digital Yuan Initiative

by December 4, 2023

During a recent fintech conference held in Shenzhen, Christopher Hui, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, emphasised the growing importance of the digital yuan and called for the active participation of “more Hong Kong banks” in this financial initiative.

He highlighted the value of integrating the digital yuan network with Hong Kong’s fast payment system (FPS), underscoring the potential benefits of this collaboration.

Hang Seng Bank (China) Ltd, Fubon Bank China Co, Standard Chartered (China) Ltd, and HSBC (China) have already begun offering digital yuan services. These services enable individual clients to link their bank cards to the digital yuan app for seamless online and offline payments.

Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury. Hong Kong Digital Yuan

Christopher Hui

Christopher said linking the digital yuan network to Hong Kong’s FPS “adds value to digital CNY wallets.” He revealed that the preliminary technical testing phase for digital yuan adoption in cross-border payments is complete, with the second phase underway.

The digital yuan’s application continues to progress. In October, the China National Petroleum Corporation successfully settled a transaction involving one million barrels of crude oil using digital yuan, illustrating its potential for large-scale commercial transactions.

At the Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou, the Bank of China introduced a solution for cross-border e-commerce B2B transactions using the digital yuan. Ant Group also showcased digital yuan applications in industrial collaboration.