Recently, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced that it will further expand the pilot scope of digital renminbi in Hong Kong, facilitate the opening and use of digital renminbi wallets by Hong Kong residents, and recharge digital renminbi wallets through the electronic fast payment system with "fast transfer". At the same time, the interoperability between "RevolutionFast" and the digital RMB central bank system operated by the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China is also the world's first fast payment system connected to the central bank digital currency system. Industry insiders say that the use of digital renminbi will provide Hong Kong and mainland residents with a safe, convenient, and brand new cross-border payment option, improve the efficiency and user experience of cross-border payment services, and promote connectivity in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. In January of this year, the People's Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched six financial measures to further promote high-level opening up of the mainland's financial industry, deepen financial cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong, and consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's position as an international financial center. These measures involve multiple aspects such as financial market connectivity, cross-border fund facilitation, and deepening financial cooperation, and can be summarized as "three connections and three conveniences". It is worth noting that deepening the cross-border pilot of digital RMB to bring more convenience to Hong Kong and mainland resident enterprises is one of the measures. Wang Pengbo, Chief Analyst of the Financial Industry at Broadcom Consulting, stated that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the People's Bank of China have maintained close cooperation in the digital RMB cross-border payment scenario. This pilot project also demonstrates the further expansion of cooperation between the two sides and has achieved phased results. The interoperability between "Fast Revolution" and the central bank system is also representative. The success of this interoperability has accumulated valuable experience for the promotion and development of digital RMB in the future, as well as the overall connection with other payment systems. It is a very important node. It is understood that after the expansion of the pilot scope, users now only need to have a Hong Kong mobile phone number to open and use personal digital RMB wallets in Hong Kong. Coin wallets can be used for cross-border payments, but cannot be used for transfers between individuals. Hong Kong users can recharge their wallets through 17 local retail banks and use digital RMB in the Greater Bay Area and other pilot areas in mainland China through "Fast Transfer". According to data from the Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Corporation, as of the end of April, the "RPM Express" system had a total of 14.3752 million account registrations. Dong Ximiao, Chief Researcher of Zhaopin, believes that Hong Kong's becoming the first cross-border pilot of digital renminbi, with active participation from multiple domestic and foreign banks, will help enhance Hong Kong's position as an international financial center. The pilot expansion of digital RMB can provide residents and enterprises in Hong Kong and mainland China with a safer, more convenient, and efficient cross-border payment model, which helps to promote closer connections between Hong Kong and mainland China. At the same time, digital renminbi and traditional electronic payments in mainland China are carrying out barcode interoperability work, and Hong Kong residents can also have more consumption choices in the future. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will also collaborate with the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China to explore upgrading digital currency wallets for Hong Kong residents through real name authentication, as well as promoting more interconnectivity in payments, providing users (including individuals and merchants) with a more convenient payment experience. At the same time, we will also jointly explore the application scenarios of enterprises to facilitate cross-border trade settlement. The President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Yu Weiwen, stated that we will continue to work closely with the People's Bank of China to gradually expand the application scope of digital renminbi, enrich the functions of digital currency wallets available to Hong Kong residents, and promote more retail merchants to accept digital renminbi, facilitating cross-border retail payments for residents. As early as 2014, the People's Bank of China established a dedicated team to conduct specialized research on the framework, key technologies, issuance and circulation environment, and related international experience of digital currency issuance. Subsequently, the People's Bank of China established the Digital Currency Research Institute, an official institution engaged in the research and development of legal digital currencies. Over the past 10 years, the digital renminbi has made significant progress. The successful launch of the digital RMB app and the continuous expansion of pilot cities have driven the popularization of digital RMB. Dong Ximiao stated that from an operational and technical perspective, the main characteristics of China's digital renminbi are twofold operation. That is, the central bank first exchanges the digital renminbi with banks or other operating institutions, and then these institutions exchange it with the public, rather than issuing it directly to the public by the central bank; The second is controllable anonymity. The digital renminbi is anonymous between the public and commercial banks, but the central bank can track its flow, which better balances the dual needs of protecting privacy and preventing risks. It is worth mentioning that platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, Meituan, NetEase Yanxuan, Vipshop, Ctrip, Didi, and WeChat Mini Programs have all accepted digital RMB. Wang Pengbo believes that the expansion of digital RMB scenarios has shifted from pure offline to online offline integration, from focusing on C-end scenario layout to utilizing smart contract technology to extend to enterprise and government sides. In terms of specific scenarios, digital RMB has expanded from retail scenarios such as catering services, shopping consumption, leisure and entertainment, transportation and travel with small amount and high frequency characteristics to industrial Internet, digital government, public trade, cross-border finance and other fields. At the same time, as more and more overseas individuals come to China, the People's Bank of China has taken into account their usage habits and personal privacy protection demands, and has leveraged the "payment as settlement", controllable anonymity, and low-cost advantages of digital RMB. The bank has launched a digital RMB payment solution for overseas personnel in China, which was first applied at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. After continuous optimization, diversified service capabilities have been initially formed. On March 18th of this year, the People's Bank of China officially released the "Digital RMB Payment Guidelines for Overseas Visitors to China". According to the guidelines, overseas visitors to China can download a digital RMB app from the local application market, directly open a small anonymous four types of wallets with their local mobile phone number, and bind them to an overseas bank card, without the need to go to the counter, provide passport and other identity information, or apply for a domestic bank card. The overseas version of the Digital RMB APP currently supports registering accounts and opening wallets with mobile phone numbers from over 210 countries or regions, and supports binding to Visa issued overseas Mastercard bank card. The above guide also mentioned that it will enrich the channels for obtaining hard wallets, cover key foreign-related scenarios, and match the payment habits of foreign personnel. Hard wallets use physical media such as cards, bracelets, and badges as carriers, combining payment capabilities and collectible value. They support recharging with overseas bank cards or foreign currency cash, and can also be managed through an associated digital RMB app. Through channels such as operating institutional counters or foreign currency exchange machines, overseas visitors to China can conveniently obtain hard wallets. For example, Shenzhen has set up self-service card issuing machines for digital RMB hard wallets in ports and other areas, supporting overseas personnel to use foreign currency to exchange hard wallets, and providing the "first stop" service upon entry. This year's Government Work Report on Service Finance Innovation proposes to vigorously develop technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance. The digital renminbi plays a positive role in supporting the development of the digital economy, enhancing the level of inclusive finance, and improving the efficiency of payment system operation, focusing on the "five major articles". The "Pudong New Area Comprehensive Reform Pilot Implementation Plan (2023-2027)" released in January this year proposes to pilot the use of digital RMB in areas such as trade settlement, e-commerce payment, carbon trading, and green power trading, and to standardize and expand the application scenarios of digital RMB in the use of fiscal funds. Industry insiders say that the digital renminbi will continuously enhance its ability to serve the development of green industries, increase support for green enterprises, and continue to explore and utilize the digital renminbi to solve the development challenges of green enterprises in the future. Governments and operating institutions in pilot areas not only apply digital RMB to green and low-carbon scenarios, providing new opportunities to achieve the "dual carbon" goals, but also apply digital RMB to green enterprise subsidy funds, loans, discount businesses, and other fields to promote the development of green finance. For example, China Postal Savings Bank's discount product "Green G-Ties" for green enterprises is combined with digital RMB to promote the implementation of the "rediscount+green bill discount+digital RMB" business scenario. At the same time, digital RMB also deeply cultivates inclusive finance and serves the real economy. By continuously improving digital RMB public product services, actively meeting the financial needs of private small and medium-sized enterprises such as credit, and supporting the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Governments and operating institutions in pilot areas are also actively expanding the application of livelihood scenarios, improving the coverage, accessibility, and satisfaction of financial services. And expand digital RMB services to county-level rural characteristic scenarios such as agricultural product sales and distribution of agricultural subsidies, to assist in rural revitalization. At the same time, we are also continuously increasing our service to overseas Chinese people. In addition, operating institutions have utilized the characteristics of digital RMB to design more payment products and pension financial products that cater to the characteristics of the elderly. For example, the Agricultural Bank of China has distributed hard wallet products in the form of electronic documents to elderly users in Huzhou nursing homes, which can be used without barriers in doors, supermarkets, and rooms, and are welcomed by the elderly. Bank of China has completed the first relief subsidy for the digital RMB elderly care service industry in Suzhou, further realizing the organic integration of elderly care scene construction and digital finance, and injecting new vitality into the digital transformation of local elderly care industry. The rich product system and advanced features of digital RMB can also support the digital transformation of various industries and help improve the level of digital financial governance. For example, digital RMB smart contract prepayment fund management solutions have been implemented in Beijing, Chengdu, Qingdao, Shenzhen and other places, exploring the use of smart contracts to design precise financial subsidies, supply chain finance and other solutions, and improving the efficiency of fund distribution and management. "The digital renminbi is an inevitable result of the continuous evolution of the monetary system and a practical need for the development of China's digital economy." Dong Ximiao stated that in order to accelerate the pilot promotion of digital renminbi, a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital renminbi should be established and improved to maintain its legal status; Actively participate in global governance of digital finance and increase China's voice; Accelerate the implementation of multi scenario coverage and expand multifunctional applications; Strengthen the protection of user data and privacy security from both technical and institutional perspectives. (Lai Xin She)