Earlier this week CITIC Securities, China’s largest securities company, published a research note regarding Hong Kong enacting stablecoin laws in late May. It views stablecoins as supporting the expansion of real world asset (RWA) tokenization. A key takeaway is that Hong Kong stablecoins will expand the tokenization activities of firms from mainland China, especially in supply chain finance.
This assessment is largely driven by the activities of Ant Digital which has been involved in a few tokenization initiatives spanning the two territories.
One of Ant Digital’s first tokenization projects was through an alliance with Shenzhen-listed Longshine Technology Group. This involved tokenizing 9,000 electric vehicle charging piles (charging points), which raised funding via tokenization in Hong Kong. This work was part of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA’s) Project Ensemble. In this case, instead of stablecoins the settlement used tokenized deposits, as that’s a key focus for Ensemble.
Another Project Ensemble use case involved Ant Digital partnering with the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) to tokenize electronic bills of lading (eBL), the document that represents title to goods in transit. This was an extension of a mainland relationship started in 2023. While the GSBN is Hong Kong based, many of its clients and some of its investors are from China, such as COSCO Shipping.
Renewable energy is expected to be an important theme, with Ant executing another RWA tokenization on the mainland, this time partnering with GCL Energy Technology to tokenize solar powered infrastructure.
While Ant Digital’s main contribution is on the tokenization front, it recently partnered with Hong Kong digital asset exchange OSL in order to develop the marketplace for the assets it tokenizes.
The examples illustrate Hong Kong’s emerging role as a tokenization hub for Chinese enterprises, spanning infrastructure, logistics, and renewable energy sectors.
