The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (19 January) published the “Project Cargox Recommendation Report”, which presents 20 recommendations and a roadmap for modernising the trade finance landscape in Hong Kong.
Since the launch of Project Cargox1, the HKMA has convened an Expert Panel on Cargox comprising 24 industry experts from banks, cargo data providers, credit reference agencies, export credit insurers, government agencies and international organisations (the member list is available in the Annex). The Expert Panel has contributed valuable insights and concluded the Cargox recommendations and development roadmap in December 2025.
With the vision of maintaining Hong Kong’s position as a leading trade financing hub, powered by a robust, globally connected digital trade infrastructure, the report outlines a roadmap for taking forward the recommendations. The HKMA will play a critical role in implementing the roadmap through collaboration with relevant public and private organisations in a series of pilot trials.
Informed by extensive research and industry engagement, a total of 20 recommendations, structured under three strategic pillars of Data, Infrastructure and Connectivity, are put forward in the report:
- Data: this pillar focuses on accelerating data-enabled trade finance automation. By integrating strategic government cargo and trade data along with infrastructure, and enabling access to historical trade transaction data, banks’ assessment of corporate creditworthiness can be facilitated. This will increase the availability of trade finance, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
- Infrastructure: this pillar seeks to facilitate the development of digital trade infrastructure to enable paperless trade both in Hong Kong and with overseas trading partners.
- Connectivity: this pillar prioritises enhancing connectivity with other jurisdictions including Chinese Mainland and ASEAN, and implementing relevant policies to maintain Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a trade and trade finance hub.
Mr Howard Lee, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, said, “Project Cargox marks a pivotal step in modernising Hong Kong’s trade finance ecosystem by integrating advanced digital solutions, optimising cargo and trade data connectivity through our next-generation Commercial Data Interchange infrastructure, and strengthening international links. The recommendations of the Cargox Expert Panel provide a strategic blueprint and actionable roadmap to position Hong Kong as a trusted, data-driven hub for global digital trade. I extend my sincere thanks to the Cargox Expert Panel members, drawn from a rich diversity of experiences spanning both public and private sectors, for their exceptional insights that have shaped this transformative initiative.”
The full report is available on the HKMA website.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
19 January 2026
Mr Nelson Chow, Executive Director (Financial Infrastructure) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, chairs the Project Cargox Year-end Forum.
The Expert Panel on Cargox has contributed valuable insights in shaping 20 recommendations and a development roadmap outlined in the “Project Cargox Recommendation Report”.
1 In April 2025, building on the Commercial Data Interchange data infrastructure, the HKMA launched Project Cargox, a multi-year initiative that aims to enhance the digital ecosystem for trade finance by harnessing the power of cargo and trade data.
