Following is a question by the Hon Chan Chun-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (March 25):
 
Question:
 
     At the end of 2025, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) released the "Action Plan on Further Strengthening the Digital Renminbi Management Service System and Related Financial Infrastructure Construction" (Action Plan), which officially came into effect on January 1, 2026, launching the next-generation digital Renminbi (e-CNY) measurement framework. Banking institutions will pay interest on the balances of clients' real-name e-CNY wallets, and the e-CNY of banking institutions operating e-CNY services will also be included in the reserve requirement system framework for management. In addition, in May 2024, PBoC and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) expanded the scope of cross-boundary e-CNY pilot in Hong Kong to facilitate the set-up and use of e-CNY wallets by Hong Kong residents, as well as the top-up of these wallets via the Faster Payment System. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the latest application situation and relevant data regarding the cross-boundary e-CNY pilot in Hong Kong (including the number and trend of e-CNY wallets operated by Mainland operating institutions, the number and trend of e-CNY wallets set up locally, and the number and trend of local retail merchants accepting e-CNY);
 
(2) whether it knows if HKMA will, in response to PBoC's Action Plan, study with local banks ways to optimise the management of e-CNY wallets; if HKMA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(3) the Stablecoins Ordinance (Cap. 656) came into effect on August 1, 2025, with its main purpose being to supervise activities involving stablecoins and to introduce a licensing regime for regulated stablecoin activities in Hong Kong; it has been reported that the first batch of stablecoin licences is expected to be issued within this year, whether stablecoins and e-CNY can achieve differentiated development in Hong Kong as envisaged by the authorities?
 
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 the next-generation digital Renminbi (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 (FPS). The e-CNY provides an additional safe, convenient and innovative payment option 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 three parts of the question is as follows.
 
(1) The PBoC and the HKMA work closely to optimise the e-CNY arrangements. At present, the number of Mainland operating institutions responsible for operating e-CNY wallets has increased from four in the initial period to five, while the number of local banks in Hong Kong participating in the top-up of e-CNY wallets via the FPS has also increased from 17 in the initial period to 18. The number of e-CNY wallets set up using Hong Kong mobile numbers and their usage have been increasing steadily. According to the PBoC's information, as at end-January 2026, around 80 000 e-CNY wallets have been registered cumulatively.
 
     The HKMA and the local banks have been actively promoting the application of e-CNY in Hong Kong. Currently, the number of local retail merchants accepting e-CNY have increased from around 300 in the initial period to around 5 200, covering chain retail stores, hotels, travel agencies, catering, convenience stores, supermarkets, etc.
 
(2) The PBoC and the HKMA are exploring the arrangements and feasibility of upgrading e-CNY wallets, with a view to raising the usage limit of e-CNY wallets, expanding application scenarios and enhancing user experience. As the policy and technical details involved require further in-depth discussion, the specific proposals and timetable are not finalised yet.
 
(3) Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (e.g. e-CNY), as well as other new payment tools, including tokenised deposits and cross-boundary linkage of fast payment systems, have the potential to be applied in various scenarios such as transaction settlement and local or cross-boundary payments, provided that the relevant legal and regulatory requirements are met. These payment tools have their own characteristics and varying degrees of maturity. Their future development prospects will largely be determined by market forces.
 
     The Government and financial regulators will continue to explore the potential and application scenarios of various new payment tools to better leverage the synergy among them, thereby addressing more pain points in the real economy.

Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:20

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