Paul Chan: FPS to Partner with UnionPay International to Further Facilitate Cross-Border Transactions

Speaking at the Hong Kong FinTech Week, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said Hong Kong will take efficiency, inclusivity and trust as the core to drive the translation of fintech into real economic benefits. FPS registrations have exceeded 22 million, and the average daily transaction value of HKD payments reached HK$16.2 billion last year. Following the connection with the mainland and Thailand payment systems, FPS will partner with UnionPay International to support QR code payments across Hong Kong, the mainland and more than 40 overseas markets, covering over 100 million merchants, further facilitating cross-border transactions. Paul Chan Mo-po pointed out that the key to enhancing efficiency lies in connecting financial systems rather than merely speeding up the operation of individual systems. Payment network interoperability allows the public to use familiar payment tools to spend in more places, while merchants can receive cross-border payments more conveniently; the connection between tokenised assets and digital currencies also helps improve transaction and settlement efficiency. Global unmet trade financing demand amounts to US$2.5 trillion. Hong Kong is helping SMEs overcome the problem of insufficient collateral through commercial data. Among them, the Commercial Data Interchange, since its launch in 2022, has facilitated over 125,000 SME loan applications and approvals, involving credit amounting to nearly HK$110 billion. Paul Chan Mo-po said both efficiency and inclusivity are built on trust. At present, the secondary market liquidity of tokenised assets still needs to be established, and the large-scale application of stablecoins remains at the testing stage. He stressed that fintech should not remain at the pilot project stage, but should effectively help enterprises collect payments, raise financing and pay overseas suppliers more quickly and reliably. The Hong Kong government will provide a clear regulatory framework and reliable infrastructure to drive the industry to implement more fintech applications in Hong Kong, benefiting enterprises and the public.