HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said at a sub-forum of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2024 that the mBridge project (a cross-border network for various central bank digital currencies, referred to as mBridge in Hong Kong) in cooperation with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the People's Bank of China and the Bank of Thailand, will conduct trade settlement trials next month with the participation of 20 central banks. Yue hopes that through relevant trials, liquidity and various infrastructure can be further improved and the framework can be expanded. Currently, 28 central banks participate as observers and it is believed that a highly effective network will be established in the future, allowing for instant settlement in local currency when conducting cross-border settlements.

The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Paul Chan Mo-po, mentioned the latest developments of the Digital Hong Kong Dollar and Digital Renminbi in Hong Kong when releasing the "Budget for 2024-2025". Regarding digital finance, Chan Mo-po stated that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority completed the first phase of the pilot program for "Digital Hong Kong Dollar" (i.e. "Digital Currency at Cyberport") in October last year, studying local retail use cases in multiple categories, such as programmable payments, offline payments, tokenized deposits, etc. The second phase of the pilot program is about to be launched to further study new use cases. Another key project, the "mBridge" (also known as the "Currency Bridge Project") for the cross-border network of central bank digital currencies, has also made progress, and the first phase of services is expected to be launched this year, becoming one of the first projects in the world to settle cross-border transactions of enterprises using central bank digital currencies. In addition, the trial scope of the digital renminbi will be expanded in Hong Kong, and citizens will be able to easily open and use digital renminbi wallets and add value through Hong Kong's fast retail payment system "Faster Payment System", further improving cross-border payment efficiency and user experience.

The mBridge project, which involves 23 central banks including the BIS, is a payment platform designed to bypass the US dollar-based global financial system. It is nearing completion and has the potential to impact international flows, trade agreements, and the power of sanctions. The project has been working with commercial banks and exchanges to trial blockchain-based security issuance, multi-jurisdiction insurance payments, programmable trade finance, and FX settlement. The project has committees focused on key issues such as legal framework, policy implications, governance, redemption terms, ownership rights, and AML compliance, and has attracted observers from around the world, including the US central bank and the European Central Bank.