More Hong Kong Banks Joining Digital Yuan Pilot
Hong Kong’s government has announced that more banks based in the country are preparing to join Mainland China’s digital yuan pilot. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) aims to expand the cross-border applications of its central bank digital currency (CBDC). To achieve this, the PBoC is inviting additional overseas banks to participate in the pilot, focusing on international e-CNY expansion.
“More Hong Kong banks” would be invited “to participate.” – Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury in Hong Kong
Hui also highlighted the recent linking of the digital yuan network to Hong Kong’s fast payment system (FPS), emphasizing that this connection adds value to digital CNY wallets. He mentioned that the preliminary technical testing phase for digital yuan adoption in cross-border payments has been completed. Currently, the PBoC and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) are in the second phase of technical testing.
“The relevant regulatory and compliance protocols” will be updated to support innovative cross-border applications of the digital yuan.” – Christopher Hui
Hui reiterated that Hong Kong aims to facilitate retail payments using both the FPS and the digital yuan, envisioning a two-way interconnection between the two innovations. However, he did not provide a specific timeline for further developments.
