Author: Liang Yu
Editor: Zhao Yidan
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's "Ensemble" project sandbox and the latest "Fintech 2030" strategy are establishing a policy high ground, attracting a group of "national team" members such as China Resources and COSCO Shipping, transforming vast physical assets and financial expertise into new competitiveness in the digital age.
According to a report by China News Service on November 3, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced in its "Fintech 2030" strategy that "promoting financial tokenization" is one of the four pillars, aiming to drive the vigorous development of Hong Kong's tokenization ecosystem. Meanwhile, market news indicates that the central enterprise China Resources Longdi has issued RWA tokenization products based on the revenue rights of its electric vehicle charging stations, marking a significant landing for central enterprises in this field.
This series of intensive dynamics from market practice to top-level policy clearly indicates that Hong Kong is fully committed to building its digital financial ecosystem. Central enterprises, state-owned enterprises, and related financial institutions in Hong Kong, leveraging their unique asset endowments and policy sensitivity, have become the backbone of promoting the development of the RWA ecosystem.
Table 1: Summary of Central (State) Enterprises and Related Institutions Layouting RWA in Hong Kong
I. Policy Foundation: From Strategic Declaration to Implementation Details
The Hong Kong SAR government and regulatory agencies have established a globally leading digital asset policy framework, providing a clear institutional environment for RWA development. The release of the "Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0" in June 2025 marks the systematic advancement of Hong Kong's digital asset policy, while the "Fintech 2030" strategy announced in November further refines the implementation path.
The Monetary Authority's plan for tokenizing government bonds is particularly specific. According to the "Fintech 2030" strategy, the Monetary Authority will complete the institutional arrangements for the issuance of tokenized government bonds by 2026, including establishing a dedicated issuance platform, formulating access standards for qualified institutional investors, and clarifying secondary market trading rules for tokenized bonds. This series of measures provides a regulatory paradigm for the tokenization of other assets.
In terms of stablecoin regulation, Hong Kong is also at the forefront globally. The stablecoin issuer regulatory system, which came into effect on August 1, 2025, provides an important payment and settlement tool for RWA. This system requires stablecoin issuers to hold corresponding reserves and undergo regular third-party audits, ensuring the stability of stablecoin value.
Li Dazhi, Vice President of the Monetary Authority, revealed at a recent fintech week event that more than 20 financial institutions have applied to participate in the "Ensemble" sandbox program, covering diverse entities such as banks, brokerages, and insurance companies. The sandbox program particularly focuses on the application of tokenized assets in custody, settlement, and cross-border transactions, accumulating practical experience for the subsequent improvement of regulatory rules.
II. Industry Practice: From Pilot Projects to Scaled Exploration
Industry groups with substantial physical assets are the most active participants in Hong Kong's RWA ecosystem, exploring new paths for value release of existing assets by tokenizing physical assets such as infrastructure and data resources.
The RWA project of Hong Kong and China Gas demonstrates the innovative transformation of traditional public utility enterprises. The underlying asset chosen by the company—a credit line of HKD 100 million—will mainly be used for artificial intelligence data centers, AI IoT, and cross-border infrastructure construction. By putting loan information on the blockchain, China Gas has achieved real-time transparency of key financial and operational data, laying the foundation for further asset tokenization.
The Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of China Gas stated at the project launch that "this RWA tokenization is a key step in the group's digital transformation. We plan to include more eligible assets in the tokenization category over the next three years, with a total scale expected to reach HKD 5 billion."
China Resources Longdi, a subsidiary of China Resources Group, focuses on the green energy sector. After participating in the Monetary Authority's "Ensemble" sandbox program, China Resources Longdi is developing an RWA product structure based on the revenue rights of electric vehicle charging stations. This product plans to package and tokenize future revenues from charging piles distributed across various districts in Hong Kong, allowing investors to share in the revenue from charging services by holding tokens.
COSCO Shipping Technology's "Shipping Chain" platform has entered a substantial operational phase. This blockchain-based shipping data platform has already connected over 200 supply chain enterprises, processing more than 10,000 shipping orders. The platform creates conditions for the subsequent tokenization of capacity revenue rights by digitizing shipping documents such as bills of lading and manifests.
The head of digital business at COSCO Shipping Technology revealed, "We are in communication with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and plan to launch the first RWA product based on shipping data in the first quarter of 2026, with an initial scale expected to be HKD 500 million."
III. Financial Innovation: Reconstruction and Upgrading of Traditional Businesses
Financial institutions leverage their professional advantages to promote the tokenization of traditional financial products, exploring new business growth points while enhancing efficiency.
As a representative of traditional brokerages, Guotai Junan International has made significant progress in the RWA field. According to a report by the China Banking and Insurance News on September 23, 2025, Guotai Junan International has successfully launched its first batch of structured product tokens, including fixed-income redeemable token products and principal-protected token products linked to US stock ETFs. These products utilize Ant Group's blockchain technology and RWA solutions, innovatively achieving secure cross-chain circulation of tokens between Ant Chain and Ethereum, with all transaction data being publicly transparent and immutable, allowing investors to verify independently at any time. This issuance is regarded as the first practice of financial asset RWA, with the underlying assets being financial contracts and commitments issued by Guotai Junan International as a licensed financial institution. This move not only significantly reduces the costs of intermediary links in traditional issuance but also greatly enhances clearing and settlement efficiency, showcasing the business innovation strength of Chinese brokerages after integrating the full-chain service capabilities of "trading, custody, consulting, issuance, and derivatives" for virtual assets.
China Pacific Insurance has achieved a "dual layout" through Pacific Asset Management Hong Kong. After launching Hong Kong's first on-chain money market fund "eStable MMF," the scale of on-chain assets managed by the company reached USD 200 million within three months. Meanwhile, the design of a new energy asset package in collaboration with GCL-Poly Energy has entered the final stage, with the first batch expected to be HKD 300 million.
The CEO of Pacific Asset Management Hong Kong stated at a recent performance briefing, "The successful issuance of the on-chain fund proves the feasibility of tokenizing traditional financial products. We will continue to explore new paths for insurance funds to participate in infrastructure investment through the RWA model."
The dollar money market fund tokenization project of CMB International demonstrates the value of technological innovation. This project achieves automatic clearing and settlement of fund shares through smart contracts, shortening the traditional T+2 trading cycle to nearly real-time. More importantly, this system supports multi-currency subscriptions and redemptions in USD, HKD, and offshore RMB, providing great convenience for cross-border investors.
The trade finance digitalization practice of Bank of China International has industry demonstration significance. The bank's blockchain-based trade letter of credit platform has processed over 100 cross-border trade financing transactions, totaling USD 300 million. By digitizing traditional paper letters of credit, Bank of China International has reduced the business processing time from 5-7 days to less than 24 hours, while significantly lowering the risks of human error and fraud.
The head of the digital finance department at Bank of China International pointed out, "Trade finance is a natural application scenario for RWA. We are closely cooperating with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to explore a standardized framework for digital bills, with specific results expected next year."
IV. Ecosystem Building: Collaborative Progress of Diverse Entities
The improvement of Hong Kong's RWA ecosystem benefits from the active participation of various institutions, with professional organizations deeply engaged in every aspect from technical support to platform construction.
Ant Group's Jovay Layer2 blockchain platform provides key technical support for RWA. This platform uses zero-knowledge proof technology to ensure transaction transparency while protecting commercial privacy, capable of processing over 5,000 transactions per second. In the RWA project of China Gas, the Jovay platform achieved on-chain storage and authorized access of key data, ensuring the authenticity and immutability of information.
Bian Zhuoqun, President of Ant Group's blockchain business, revealed, "We are developing compliance solutions specifically for RWA, including investor identity verification, transaction limit management, and cross-border compliance checks, which are expected to be put into use in the first quarter of next year."
The establishment of the Hong Kong Digital Asset Listed Companies Association promotes the development of industry self-regulation. This organization, initiated by several listed companies in the digital asset field, has formulated guidelines for information disclosure of RWA projects and standards for investor suitability management, laying a foundation for the healthy development of the industry.
The chairman of the association stated at a recent forum, "We are working with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to develop an evaluation framework for RWA projects, which will comprehensively assess projects from dimensions such as asset quality, technical security, and compliance, providing reference for investors."
Small and medium-sized banks like Chuangxing Bank participate in the RWA ecosystem through differentiated strategies. In addition to providing credit support for the China Gas project, Chuangxing Bank is developing RWA financing products aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, planning to help them solve financing difficulties by tokenizing accounts receivable.
V. Real Challenges: Bottlenecks and Breakthroughs in the Development Process
The development of RWA in Hong Kong still faces multiple challenges, requiring joint efforts from all market participants to overcome.
The lack of unified technical standards is currently the most pressing issue. The interoperability between different blockchain platforms is lacking, making it difficult for tokenized assets to circulate across different systems. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is leading the formulation of RWA technical standards, with the first version of the standard framework expected to be released in 2026, covering key aspects such as asset on-chain, token issuance, and transaction settlement.
Zhou Huiqiang, Director of Financial Technology at the Monetary Authority, stated at a recent technical seminar, "We are collaborating with international standard organizations to ensure that Hong Kong's RWA standards are compatible with global mainstream standards, laying the foundation for cross-border applications."
Legal and compliance issues also need breakthroughs. The legal characterization of digital assets, jurisdiction for cross-border transactions, and protection of investor rights all need clarification. The Hong Kong Department of Justice is drafting amendments to laws related to digital assets, planning to submit them to the Legislative Council for review in 2026.
In terms of cross-border regulatory coordination, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has established a regular communication mechanism with mainland regulatory agencies to exchange views on cross-border regulatory issues related to RWA. This coordination mechanism helps promote innovation while ensuring financial security.
The improvement of market acceptance requires time. According to research data from the Hong Kong Digital Asset Exchange, the current awareness of RWA among institutional investors has reached 75%, but only 25% actually participate in investments. Investor education has become a key link in promoting market development.
Multiple institutions are collaborating to develop investor education materials, helping traditional investors understand the characteristics and risks of RWA products through case analysis and risk warnings. The Hong Kong Investor Education Center plans to launch a dedicated RWA investment education program next year.
VI. Future Prospects: From Hong Kong Practice to Global Leadership
The development of Hong Kong's RWA ecosystem shows a clear evolutionary path, from pilot projects to scaled operations, from local to cross-border, with gradually expanding influence.
Diversification of asset expansion will become the main line in the future. In addition to the current fields of green energy and shipping finance, Hong Kong is exploring the tokenization of new types of assets such as intellectual property and carbon assets. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange plans to launch a digital asset trading platform in 2026, with the first batch including RWA products that meet standards.
Cross-border applications, especially connectivity with the mainland, have enormous potential. Against the backdrop of the "Belt and Road" initiative and the internationalization of the RMB, Hong Kong is expected to become a digital hub for the cross-border flow of mainland assets. Multiple institutions are studying feasible solutions to bring mainland infrastructure assets into the international market through the RWA model.
A professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong recently pointed out that "Hong Kong's unique 'one country, two systems' advantage allows it to act as a 'super connector' in the digital asset field, facilitating the interconnection of assets between the mainland and global markets through RWA."
Scaled development requires a dual drive from both policy and market. The Monetary Authority plans to promote the scale of tokenized assets to reach the HKD 100 billion level by 2027 and attract more institutions to participate through tax incentives and other policy measures. At the same time, Hong Kong is cultivating a professional ecosystem of RWA service institutions, forming a complete industrial chain from technical support to legal consulting.
The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong emphasized at a recent economic forum that "asset tokenization is an important direction for the future of finance, and Hong Kong will continue to improve the regulatory framework, cultivate the market ecosystem, and consolidate our leading position in the digital finance field."
From China Resources Longdi's electric vehicle charging stations to COSCO Shipping Technology's shipping chain, from Pacific Insurance's on-chain funds to China Gas's digital financing, Hong Kong's RWA landscape is being outlined with a new blueprint by a group of central state-owned enterprises and financial institutions.
With the advancement of the "Fintech 2030" strategy, Hong Kong's RWA ecosystem will become increasingly complete. In the future, we may see more types of physical assets being tokenized, from infrastructure to new energy, from data resources to intellectual property. A new financial ecosystem connecting the real world and the digital world is accelerating its formation along the shores of Victoria Harbour, injecting new era connotations into Hong Kong's status as an international financial center.
Sources of some information:
· "Hong Kong Plans to Normalize the Issuance of Tokenized Government Bonds"
· "Hong Kong Releases Digital Asset Development Policy Declaration 2.0, with Stablecoins as a Focus"
· "Hong Kong Monetary Authority's 'Digital Hong Kong Dollar' Pilot Program Achieves Rich Results"
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