In this 2019 file photo, Eddie Yue, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary, delivers a speech at the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2019. (PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong FinTech Week 2020 opened on Monday, bringing together the world's top notch innovators, regulators, venture capitalists, investors and financiers to discuss online the future trend of fintech and new opportunities for the financial sector.

We are proud to be one of the first markets in the region to have fully digital banks, or virtual banks. As we speak, our city has one of the highest numbers of virtual banks in Asia.

 Eddie Yue, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority

The event, co-organized by Hong Kong Monetary Authority and InvestHK, was conducted in virtual form this year amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said at the event that COVID-19 has spurred a wide-ranging acceptance and adoption of digital solutions. As of September, Hong Kong's FPS, a payment platform allowing instant person-to-person transfers, has recorded 6.2 million registrations, with the average daily turnover in September reaching 426,000 real-time transactions, which is seven times more than the FPS's first month of business.

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As of August, eight virtual banks and four virtual insurers, as well as a virtual asset trading company, have been authorized, or granted in-principal agreement, to operate in Hong Kong, Chan said.

“We are proud to be one of the first markets in the region to have fully digital banks, or virtual banks. As we speak, our city has one of the highest numbers of virtual banks in Asia," said Eddie Yue, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, in his keynote speech.

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The Hong Kong Monetary Authority also announced a range of initiatives to further foster the fintech ecosystem and support corporates at the event. They include using data to facilitate small and medium-sized enterprises to financing, and facilitating the digitalization of trade finance.