Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury: Hong Kong will build a national "international asset vault" to promote the regularization of RWA.

Odaily News Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, elaborated on Hong Kong's strategic layout in financial technology, asset management, and commodity markets during an exclusive interview, aiming to leverage the advantages of “one country, two systems” to create the country's “international asset custody box” and serve the strategy of becoming a financial powerhouse. Hui emphasized that the goal of developing financial technology (FinTech) is to “empower the real economy,” rather than speculation. He cited asset tokenization (Tokenization/RWA) as an example, pointing out that Hong Kong is exploring its application in real economic scenarios such as international shipping leasing and corporate fund management, and mentioned that the successful issuance of the third batch of digital green bonds by the SAR government is an important step towards normalization. Hong Kong has passed relevant legislation, aiming to issue stablecoin licenses starting next year, but the initial licensing volume will be very limited, with cautious regulation, clarifying that stablecoins are intended to address pain points in the real economy such as cross-border payments, rather than being speculative tools. Hong Kong will promote the settlement cycle of the Hong Kong stock market from T+2 to T+1, with plans to publish a consultation document next year to clarify the timeline. In addition, it will seek to optimize the “dual-class shares” system, balancing between aligning with international standards and protecting minority investors. Hong Kong plans to increase its gold storage capacity to 2,000 tons within three years and is preparing to launch a gold central settlement system next year. At the same time, Hong Kong is actively promoting cooperation with the Shanghai Gold Exchange to enhance China's pricing influence in the global gold market through a “strong partnership” between Shanghai and Hong Kong. Hong Kong is actively attracting family offices and plans to submit a bill to the Legislative Council next year to expand the scope of tax exemptions to emerging product categories such as digital assets, private credit, and carbon credits, in order to better “capture” global funds.