Editorial | Trade finance in Hong Kong set for a competitive tech upgrade
Monetary Authority’s five-year fintech upgrade will streamline SME trade finance and help build the city’s digital trade infrastructure
To stay competitive in an increasingly complex global landscape, Hong Kong must continue to develop and adapt to new technologies and trends. Nowhere is this more needed than in trade and finance, the lifeblood of the city’s economy. While we are lucky to have the world’s second-largest economy as our financial backbone, maintaining our position as a key hub requires consistent upgrading and improvement with a robust, globally connected digital trade infrastructure.
The CDI, launched in October 2022, is an electronic platform allowing 26 banks to use 17 data providers to assess the creditworthiness of SMEs. More than 82,000 loan applications worth HK$66.4 billion (US$9.5 billion) as of December 2025 went through the CDI. Those are impressive figures with much room to grow.
Trade is the city’s second-largest industry after finance, making up 15 per cent of the gross domestic product. Even so, trade is still being conducted mostly by physical documents and manual procedures, slowing down transactions with banks and clients. Fintech infrastructure, including the use of digital identities in trade transactions for SMEs, can accelerate the process and at a lower cost.
Such data streamlining will be a powerful tool to supercharge Hong Kong’s global trading role.