Following is a question by the Hon Holden Chow and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (October 8):
 
Question:
 
     Hong Kong has become the first pilot area outside the Mainland where e-CNY wallets have been made fully available for setting up and use by residents since May last year. According to a press release issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in May last year, Hong Kong users could top up their e-CNY wallets via the Faster Payment System (FPS) through 17 local retail banks, with support for cross-border payments in 26 Mainland pilot areas (including Mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area). It is learnt that while e-CNY wallets have been in operation for a year or so, public concerns have persisted over e-CNY wallets' usage restrictions, application scenario coverage and cross-border efficiency. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the total number of e-CNY personal wallets set up by Hong Kong residents and their utilisation rate (i.e. at least one transaction per month) as at May this year; if it has not compiled such statistics, whether the HKMA will collect such data in the future; whether the progress of setting up e-CNY wallets in Hong Kong meets the authorities' expectations as compared with other Mainland pilot cities (e.g. Shenzhen or Shanghai);
 
(2) whether it has compiled statistics on the current coverage rate of Hong Kong retail merchants accepting e-CNY payments, and the respective distribution of such merchants across the three regions, namely Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories; if it has not compiled such statistics, whether the HKMA will collect such data in the future; whether the HKMA has assessed the effectiveness of its specific measures to promote the acceptance of e-CNY wallets by local merchants for payment;
 
(3) as there are views that while the add value service via FPS offers convenience, the current limit per transaction and annual cumulative payment limit for e-CNY wallets are RMB 2,000 and RMB 50,000 respectively, whether the authorities have assessed if such arrangements are sufficient to meet Hong Kong people's cross-border consumption demand; whether the relevant limits will be relaxed specifically for business travellers or frequent users of e-CNY wallets;
 
(4) in the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge project jointly conducted by the HKMA with other central banks, of the cumulative amount of cross-border trade settlement completed by Hong Kong enterprises using e-CNY and the reduction in handling fees; whether it knows the measures put in place by the HKMA to enhance enterprises' participation in the project; and
 
(5) whether it knows the HKMA's specific timetable for rolling out functional upgrade (e.g. introducing real-name authentication and increasing personal transfer limits) to e-CNY wallets and expanding the application scenarios (e.g. supply chain finance and cross-border payment of wages) for enterprises?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Government attaches great importance to promoting fintech development, and has been working closely with financial regulators as well as industry players to adopt multi-pronged measures for driving fintech forward.
 
     In May 2024, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) expanded the scope of e-CNY pilot in Hong Kong to facilitate the set-up and the use of e-CNY wallets by Hong Kong residents, as well as the top-up of e-CNY wallets via the Faster Payment System. The e-CNY provides an additional option of safe, convenient and innovative payment to residents of the two places, thereby enhancing efficiency and user experience of cross-boundary payment services, as well as promoting interconnectivity of the two places.
 
     In consultation with the HKMA, our reply to the five parts of the question is as follows.
 
(1) and (2) The HKMA maintains close liaison with the Digital Currency Institute of the PBoC, as well as the subsidiary banks of the Mainland operating institutions in Hong Kong, to understand the usage of e-CNY wallets and gauge user feedback. The HKMA also encourages banks to promote more local retail merchants to accept e-CNY. It is understood that the number of local retail merchants accepting e-CNY is gradually increasing.
 
     As the Mainland operating institutions are responsible for operating the e-CNY wallets and providing relevant services, the HKMA does not maintain statistics on the number of e-CNY wallets set up by Hong Kong residents and their utilisation rate, as well as the coverage rate of Hong Kong retail merchants accepting e-CNY payment.
 
(3) and (5) The HKMA will continue to work closely with the PBoC to facilitate the progress of e-CNY cross-boundary pilot in Hong Kong, including promoting more local retail merchants to accept e-CNY, and exploring more application scenarios, with a view to expanding the scope of e-CNY pilot.
 
     The PBoC and the HKMA are exploring the arrangements and feasibility of upgrading e-CNY wallets, with a view to increasing the usage limit of e-CNY wallets and supporting more application scenarios. As the discussion is still ongoing, the specific proposals and timetable are not finalised yet.
 
(4) In June 2024, the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge (mBridge) project reached the "Minimum Viable Product" (MVP) stage. The mBridge platform adopts permissioned distributed ledger technology developed specifically for the project, which enables local banks of both payers and recipients to conduct direct transaction settlement, thereby significantly reducing the cost of cross-boundary payment. Participating commercial banks in Hong Kong determine the service fees for cross-boundary payment via the mBridge platform having regard to their operating costs and commercial considerations.
 
     Project mBridge has become a part of Hong Kong's financial market infrastructure. As the project has entered the MVP stage, the mBridge project team will continue to optimise and enhance platform functions, including supporting the participating commercial banks to integrate with the application programming interface system of Project mBridge, with a view to improving transaction efficiency and enhancing the experience of corporate clients. In addition, Project mBridge will gradually expand the participation of public and private sectors, with a view to offering more efficient and convenient service options for cross-border payment.

Ends/Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:00

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