The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Paul Chan Mo-po, mentioned the latest developments of the Hong Kong Dollar Digital Currency and the Digital Renminbi in Hong Kong during the release of the 2024-2025 Budget. Regarding digital finance, Chan Mo-po stated that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) completed the first phase of the “Digital Hong Kong Dollar” (also known as “e-HKD”) pilot scheme in October last year. The pilot scheme researched various local retail use cases, such as programmable payments, offline payments, and tokenized deposits. The second phase of the pilot scheme is set to commence soon, further exploring new use cases.
Another significant project, the “mBridge” (also known as the “Currency Bridge Project”), which aims to establish a cross-border network for central bank digital currencies, has also made progress. The first phase of services is expected to launch this year, making it one of the pioneering projects to settle cross-border transactions for enterprises using multi-central bank digital currencies.
In addition, the Digital Renminbi will expand its pilot scope in Hong Kong. Citizens will be able to conveniently open and use Digital Renminbi wallets and enhance their experience through Hong Kong’s fast retail payment system, “Faster Payment System” (FPS). This will further improve cross-border payment efficiency and user experience.
