Hong Kong strives to link up more government data, leverage alternative data, unify the verification process and hasten cross-boundary data validation to fuel commerce and trade development through strengthening data infrastructure.

Panelists made the comments on Monday at the Data Summit 2025, organized by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and Hong Kong Association of Banks.

The summit attracted about 800 senior executives and industry professionals from almost 100 public and private organizations, including government departments, banks, and data providers of the Commercial Data Interchange (CDI). The summit also showcased latest commercial data innovations from 15 CDI partners.

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“The Transport and Logistics Bureau is working hard to build the Port Community System (PCS) to connect all stakeholders in the entire cargo transportation process, while connecting information related to sea, land and air cargo transportation to achieve total transparency,” Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said in her keynote speech.

The transport and logistics chief said she hopes the industry will make full use of the PCS system to explore more financing application cases and open up more flows of cargo, trade and capital.

HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue Wai-man said Hong Kong strives to connect more government data and leverage more alternative data, for building a secure, stable and efficient data infrastructure.

The HKMA, the Digital Policy Office, and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau are collaborating closely to launch the CEDB’s Trade Single Window Phase 3 in phases next year, to expedite loan approval through authorized sharing of import and export declaration data with participating banks.

The DPO’s Digital Corporate Identity Platform, set to launch by the end of 2026, will enable the HKMA to explore and design electronic signing in the CDI that could streamline the corporate authorization process.

The CDI was established by the HKMA in 2022 with the aim of facilitating banks to optimize the loan application and trade finance processes for small and medium-sized enterprises in Hong Kong. At the end of June, the CDI facilitated more than 61,000 loan applications and reviews, involving estimated credit approval amount of exceeding HK$50.1 billion ($6.38 billion) through the participation of 26 banks and 17 data providers.

SMEs account for 98 percent of the total number of enterprises in Hong Kong, of which 40 percent are engaged in import and export, and wholesale and retail. “If we can help them obtain bank financing more conveniently, this can further promote commerce and trade development,” Yue said in his opening speech.

He added: “Data infrastructure should be more digital and efficient, so that enterprises can respond to challenges more flexibly and accelerate the transformation of operating models and supply chains. It can also tackle long-term business pain points, such as the dispersion of trade data and manual processing procedures.”

CDI has connected to the Companies Registry and the Land Registry via the DPO’s Consented Data Exchange Gateway. In the future, the CDI will connect the data of the Customs and Excise Department.

“Banks have expressed interest in obtaining corporate tax data from the Inland Revenue Department to enhance their confidence in approval,” HKMA Deputy Chief Executive Howard Lee Tat-chi said. “As each government department has different data processing regulations and internal procedures, the HKMA will communicate with each department one by one to solve practical difficulties in data sharing.”

Regarding the utilization of alternative data, the CDI in the future will integrate alternative data to optimize the corporate credit scoring model developed by the Commercial Credit Reference Agency to enhance the accuracy of data analytics in the loan application process.

The CDI also has linked up with a data validation platform in Shenzhen in April this year that has facilitated SME loans more than HK$100 million with the participation of over 10 banks and credit reference agencies.

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“The cargo data platform of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) assists trade financing and insurance arrangements by making air cargo data-sharing easier for financial institutions,” Airport Authority Hong Kong Chairman Fred Lam Tin-fuk said. “By making the understanding of the business status and financing needs of the SMEs directly and comprehensively, the platform can shorten the financing process for SMEs and optimize loan risk management.”

Six pilot-project banks participating in Project Cargo X now joins the new trial phase of the PCS initiated by the Transport and Logistics Bureau and they have preliminary validated trade authenticity by using cargo data. The HKMA will collaborate with the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the Airport Authority Hong Kong, and pilot banks to utilize alternative cargo data, such as import and export declarations and transportation data, for exploring more new use cases.

Project Cargo X is an initiative of the HKMA to leveraging cargo data to streamline and enhance trade finance processes.