Right Place, Right Time: Hong Kong’s Bid to Become International Finance’s ‘Fluency Hub’

As the global economy becomes increasingly multipolar, progress is no longer defined by scale but by global fluency. That is, the ability to connect and translate across diverse financial and technological systems. This year’s Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival, the largest in its decade-long history, underscored this shift and highlighted how Hong Kong intends to lead by positioning itself as a stable yet forward-leaning international finance and business hub.

A series of developments signalled this commitment, including the launch of cross-boundary Payment Connect with the People’s Bank of China, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) decision to establish a Hong Kong office, shared liquidity by virtual asset trading platforms, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) “Fintech 2030” roadmap focused on data sharing, tokenisation and AI infrastructure. Individually meaningful, together they reflect a deliberate strategy to bridge regulatory and technological divides and to enable cross-market collaboration.

The broader narrative is clear. Hong Kong is taking bolder steps to evolve and is doubling down. By combining deep capital markets, internationally aligned regulatory standards, as well as serving as a crucible for global and Mainland Chinese collaboration and innovation, the city is carving out a distinct position. Hong Kong’s blend of trust, experimentation and connectivity is setting new benchmarks for financial collaboration in an era of fragmentation.

While much has been made of the race to become “Asia’s fintech capital”, the more urgent question is how financial systems are adapting to a world where regulatory philosophies and technological models are diverging. The vision of seamless, interoperable digital assets, with faster settlement, broader access and greater transparency, remains distant as the United States, the European Union, China and others pursue distinct approaches. In this landscape, the real opportunity lies in understanding, reconciling and applying these differences. A true fintech capital must apply this fluency across diverse financial regimes.

Hong Kong is stepping into this role, experimenting with regulation that balances global access and local safeguards. The Securities and Futures Commission’s move to allow licensed virtual-asset trading platforms to connect with overseas liquidity pools is one such example - testing how global reach can coexist with domestic protections and underscoring the importance of liquidity fluency.

Similarly, the HKMA’s Project Ensemble, including its pilot phase EnsembleTX, is advancing practical tokenisation use cases by enabling real-value transactions with tokenised deposits and digital assets. Through close collaboration with banks and industry partners, the authority is proving that faster, more transparent and more efficient settlement mechanisms are within reach.

Collectively, these efforts reinforce Hong Kong’s ambition to serve as a trusted conduit for cross‑border financial innovation. They enable collaboration and interoperability both within Hong Kong and across borders. This year’s Hong Kong FinTech Week x StartmeupHK Festival also saw a marked increase in delegations from the Chinese Mainland and over 30 international economies, many seeking to better understand and navigate the global regulatory landscape and access leading technologies. Their presence reflects Hong Kong’s growing reputation as stable, accessible, and intelligible ground where institutions from diverse environments can engage and innovate together.

At the conference, Lu Lei, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), reaffirmed Hong Kong’s strategic role within China’s national agenda for financial innovation. He noted that deeper fintech collaboration between Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong is advancing interoperable cross-boundary payments and e-CNY use cases while unlocking efficiencies that benefit businesses and individuals on both sides. The interconnection of regulatory sandboxes between the PBoC, the HKMA and the Macau Monetary Authority further allows AI- and data-driven financial products to be trialled under joint supervision, supporting practical solutions for everyday needs.

Lu also highlighted the expansion of the RMB Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) in Hong Kong, including the addition of Hong Kong dollar clearing services and enhanced settlement functions under Bond Connect. Alongside unified QR payment gateways and Payment Connect initiatives, these developments reinforce Hong Kong’s position as both a bridge linking China’s fintech ecosystem with global markets and a platform for sharing innovation and best practice.

He underscored that payment innovation plays a central role in strengthening connectivity and supporting integrated economic development. The PBoC’s experience with central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots that are already yielding real-world applications, offer insights that can be shared internationally. This collaborative ethos extends to emerging domains such as AI, blockchain and data exchange, where Hong Kong is well placed to facilitate cross-boundary experimentation and knowledge exchange.

Here, Hong Kong’s approach is not innovation for its own sake, but innovation translation - taking ideas from different jurisdictions and re-expressing them in forms that each side can work with. This distinctive role, aligned with China’s national strategy, positions Hong Kong as a collaborative hub where certainty, openness, and practical benefit drive progress for the region and beyond.

China was among the first countries to develop the CBDC and has since accumulated substantial experience in its design, technology and application. The m-CBDC Bridge, a joint initiative between the PBoC and HKMA, is a leading pilot for multi-currency blockchain settlement among participating central banks. It puts fluency into practice through the ability to interpret and reconcile different financial circumstances without forcing systems to converge.

The AIIB’s move to establish an office in Hong Kong further underscores the city’s strengths as a global financial centre. Driving the decision is Hong Kong’s vibrant capital markets, deep funding pool, globally fluent professional services, and rich financial talent pool, as well as its international connectivity and unique position under the “one country, two systems” framework. This confluence of strengths makes the city an ideal base for supporting the AIIB’s operations in project financing, bond issuance, and investment management.

In a world reorganising along political, technological, and monetary lines, such optionality is increasingly valuable. Hong Kong’s ability to offer both proximity to the Chinese Mainland’s innovation ecosystem and a regulatory environment familiar to international institutions translates to long-term resilience and continued relevance in global finance.

Hong Kong’s advantage lies in its ability to foster innovation within frameworks that global markets recognise and trust. The city has positioned itself as a nexus where Chinese and international innovators can collaborate and transact within a stable, transparent environment under international standards. 

Hong Kong’s enduring value lies in its ability to turn systemic differences into workable and interoperable connections - an increasingly rare capability in global finance and innovation. This combination is attracting global capital and talent, while enabling cross-system financial experimentation that few jurisdictions can match. By forging collaboration amidst fragmentation, Hong Kong is demonstrating how it intends to lead as a stable and globally fluent crucible for capital, business, and innovation.