Digital Renminbi is "running" in Hong Kong

The application scope of the digital yuan in Hong Kong is steadily expanding. On March 30, a Beijing Business Daily reporter noticed that, in a written reply to questions from members of the Legislative Council, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Xu Zhengyu, disclosed the latest set of results for the digital yuan’s applications in Hong Kong.

Data show that the number of digital yuan wallets opened using Hong Kong mobile phone numbers is about 80k. The number of local merchants accepting the digital yuan has increased from an initial 300 to about 5,200, covering multiple retail transaction scenarios. Some analysts said that the promotion of the digital yuan pilot in Hong Kong is advancing smoothly and has achieved significant results. Continuing to push it forward can further magnify the convenience brought by payment interoperability between the two places, and also provide experience for the digital yuan to take root in more overseas markets.

Nearly 80k digital yuan wallets have been opened in Hong Kong

“Since the second half of 2025, you can clearly feel that the number of ‘supports digital yuan’ signs in Hong Kong has increased. Especially in areas with more tourists, as well as high-frequency transaction scenarios like convenience stores and catering/food & beverage. Compared with a few years ago when you could only use ways like Hong Kong-dollar cash or credit cards, paying has become much more convenient.” Zhang Qi (a pseudonym), a consumer living in Shenzhen, told a Beijing Business Daily reporter.

Today, digital yuan has already become one of Zhang Qi’s main payment methods when shopping in Hong Kong. Zhang Qi said the main reason is that the digital yuan can settle exchange rates in real time, and no other fees are generated during transactions. For consumers who frequently travel between the two places, it can save both time and costs for exchanging currency.

For a long time, the People’s Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority have worked closely together to optimize the arrangements for the digital yuan. According to Xu Zhengyu, the number of mainland operating institutions responsible for operating digital yuan wallets has increased from an initial 4 to 5. The number of Hong Kong local banks participating in the value-added digital yuan wallets of “FPS” has also increased from an initial 17 to 18.

Xu Zhengyu said that both the number of digital yuan wallets and their usage in Hong Kong have shown steady growth. According to the People’s Bank of China’s data, as of the end of January 2026, a cumulative total of about 80k digital yuan wallets have been registered. At the same time, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and local banks have been actively promoting the digital yuan’s application in Hong Kong. The current number of retail merchant outlets accepting the digital yuan has increased from about 300 at the beginning to about 5,200. These include chain retail stores, hotels, travel agencies, catering/food & beverage, convenience stores, and supermarkets, among others.

Also, according to official disclosures by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the five mainland operating institutions participating in Hong Kong’s cross-border digital yuan pilot are Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of Communications. All five are mainland state-owned large commercial banks and are also core operating institutions for the digital yuan.

Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Bocomm Securities Consulting, pointed out that, from the data, the overall advancement of the digital yuan pilot in Hong Kong is smooth and the results are significant. The rapid growth in both the number of wallets opened and the scale of merchant coverage shows that residents in both places’ acceptance and willingness to use are continuously increasing.

Wang Pengbo said that interoperability between the digital yuan and the “FPS” system enables the digital yuan to realize a more convenient process for opening accounts and topping up, while also supporting real-time exchange rate settlement and no additional fees. In cross-border retail payment scenarios, it effectively improves payment efficiency, reduces transaction costs, and brings tangible convenience to people’s travels and consumption payments between the two places.

Planning is underway for the upgrading of digital yuan wallets

In recent years, infrastructure in cross-border payment scenarios has been continuously improved, and interconnection between Hong Kong and the mainland has been advancing steadily. As far as is known, “FPS” is Hong Kong’s fast payment system officially launched by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in 2018. In May 2024, the People’s Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority expanded the scope of the digital yuan’s cross-border pilot in Hong Kong. The cross-border digital yuan digital payments platform (now upgraded to “DigiPass” cross-border services) and “FPS” achieved interoperability. This is the world’s first bilateral interoperability project between a legal digital currency system and a payment system.

After the digital yuan expanded the pilot scope, Hong Kong residents can open and use personal digital yuan wallets with their local mobile phone numbers, and can also directly top up their wallets through the “FPS” system. They can also upgrade wallets online by using the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents. Tourists visiting Hong Kong like Zhang Qi can also, after opening a digital yuan wallet in the mainland, make direct payments at accepting merchants in Hong Kong.

Regarding the digital yuan’s application, Xu Zhengyu also further mentioned that the People’s Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are exploring arrangements and feasibility for upgrading digital yuan wallets. In the future, they will further increase wallet usage limits, expand application scenarios, and improve user experience. Hong Kong will continue to explore the potential and application scenarios of various new payment tools, better play their synergistic effect, and help address pain points in the real economy.

Wang Pengbo emphasized that, in terms of business definitions in financial regulation, cross-border payment, and border management, Hong Kong falls within the category of an offshore market relatively compared with the mainland. This is also a core foundation for the deep interoperability of the payment systems between the two places and the rapid rollout of the digital yuan pilot. It is conducive to realizing seamless docking between regulatory rule harmonization and payment infrastructure.

“Across-the-border pilot of the digital yuan, the core underlying support is the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge project. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority itself is a core participating party in this project. The pilot rollout of the digital yuan in Hong Kong is essentially the first trial of the digital currency bridge in retail-end scenarios.” Wang Pengbo further explained that the two places’ discussion on wallet upgrade arrangements is precisely based on the foundation of payment system interoperability that has already been put in place.

Wang Pengbo believes that whether Hong Kong is raising usage limits, expanding application scenarios, or optimizing the user experience, it can achieve deep synergy with the digital currency bridge’s system capabilities. This can not only further magnify the convenience brought by payment interoperability between the two places, but also provide replicable and promotable technology frameworks and regulatory experience for the rollout of the digital yuan in more overseas markets. Ultimately, by relying on Hong Kong—the world’s largest offshore renminbi market—it will run the full end-to-end closed loop of the digital yuan from retail payments to cross-border settlement, and steadily play its supporting role for renminbi internationalization.

Source: Beijing Business Daily

A massive amount of information, precise interpretation—available in the Sina Finance app