The "crazy" rush to Hong Kong for RWA
In terms of actual implementation feasibility, whether these mainland assets can ultimately succeed in completing tokenized financing through RWA in Hong Kong depends on the audibility of the assets themselves and the transparency of the underlying structure, as well as whether enterprises and their cooperation institutions have sufficient understanding of the underlying logic of digital assets - especially in aspects such as the on - chain issuance mechanism, off - chain redemption arrangements, asset anchoring paths, cross - border governance frameworks, regulatory requirements, and information disclosure mechanisms. Whether relevant enterprises have strong legal and compliance operation capabilities is also crucial.
“I've been extremely busy recently.” Zhao Ziqiang, the head of an investment institution engaged in RWA consulting, sighed to the reporter. This week, he will travel to four cities again to explain the operation matters of mainland assets' RWA in Hong Kong to six enterprises.
The so - called RWA mainly refers to the tokenized financing and trading of real - world assets on the blockchain. Its core is to raise funds, conduct transactions, and achieve asset circulation on the blockchain network by representing the income rights of real - world physical assets in the form of digital tokens.
With the official implementation of the
A recent research report released by Minsheng Securities pointed out that the closed - loop ecosystem constructed by stablecoins and RWA is expected to become an important breakthrough in the Web3.0 era. Stablecoins focus on the tokenization of fiat currencies, while RWA realizes the tokenization of assets. The combination of the two can provide investors with on - chain financial products with low risk and stable returns. At the policy level, the legislation on stablecoins in Hong Kong continues to advance, and the global regulatory framework is gradually becoming clear, bringing new opportunities for market development.
Previously, GCL New Energy and Langxin Group took the lead in piloting RWA financing in the new energy sector.
Many RWA industry insiders told the reporter that at various RWA conferences held recently, there have been an increasing number of enterprises from fields such as cultural and tourism trendy toys, real estate, photovoltaic new energy, and charging piles. They are actively exploring the feasibility of RWA financing in Hong Kong for their assets as a new breakthrough for enterprises to explore the development of digital asset business and expand financing channels.
Zhao Ziqiang revealed that real estate enterprises are particularly enthusiastic about RWA in Hong Kong. They hope to tokenize and finance their mature commercial real estate projects with relatively stable rents on the blockchain as soon as possible to raise funds to repay bank loans and reduce corporate debt pressure.
Yu Jianing, the president of Hong Kong Uweb Business School, told the reporter that in the future, mainland assets' RWA in Hong Kong will mainly focus on three types of fields with definite cash flows and high asset assessability. Firstly, stock - type assets, such as the receivable rents of commercial real estate projects, the right to use infrastructure, and the contract income of energy - related projects, which have stable cycles and clear income models; secondly, supply - chain financial assets, especially accounts receivable, warehouse receipts, and factoring structures under the background of central and state - owned enterprises, which have high transparency and credit ratings; thirdly, assets related to green and sustainable development, such as carbon emission allowances and green power purchase contracts, which have a strong valuation basis under the support of policies and the promotion of the ESG financing framework.
In terms of actual implementation feasibility, whether these mainland assets can ultimately succeed in completing tokenized financing through RWA in Hong Kong depends on the audibility of the assets themselves and the transparency of the underlying structure, as well as whether enterprises and their cooperation institutions have sufficient understanding of the underlying logic of digital assets - especially in aspects such as the on - chain issuance mechanism, off - chain redemption arrangements, asset anchoring paths, cross - border governance frameworks, regulatory requirements, and information disclosure mechanisms. Whether relevant enterprises have strong legal and compliance operation capabilities is also crucial.
As mainland enterprises' enthusiasm for RWA in Hong Kong heats up, there are a large number of various intermediary institutions in the market. They convey an overly idealized prospect of RWA operation in Hong Kong to mainland enterprises, trying to make the latter think that RWA in Hong Kong is “easy” and then charge high upfront tutoring and consulting fees. In fact, there are challenges in the asset scale, income status, and asset confirmation of these enterprises' relevant assets, and they may not be able to smoothly conduct RWA in Hong Kong.
“One of my weekly tasks now is to explain to more mainland enterprises the actual operation difficulties of mainland assets' RWA in Hong Kong, readjust their expectations, and prevent them from spending a lot of unnecessary money.” Zhao Ziqiang said straightforwardly.
“Diverse” Intermediary Institutions
After the
“In the past two months, I've almost been on business trips, traveling to different cities to interpret the key points of RWA operation in Hong Kong to local enterprises in different industries.” Zhao Ziqiang told the reporter. Since he had operated overseas RWA projects in previous years, many enterprises now want to invite him to be the person in charge of their digital asset business, specifically responsible for the tokenized financing of enterprise assets on the blockchain and the operation of digital assets.
Mainland enterprises in different industries also have different demands for RWA in Hong Kong. Compared with real estate, charging pile, and photovoltaic power generation operation enterprises, which are keen to tokenize and finance their mature commercial real estate projects, charging pile projects, and photovoltaic power generation projects (with stable rents and easy asset confirmation) on the blockchain to improve their cash flow and debt situation, many cultural and tourism trendy toy and consumer goods enterprises hope to achieve digital asset operation through RWA in Hong Kong, gain popularity among more young customers, and enhance customer stickiness as a new path for enterprises to explore the development of digital asset business.
Since mainland enterprises cannot directly tokenize and finance their assets on the blockchain (RWA), they need to first confirm the rights of their domestic assets and business interests through domestic alliance chains, then establish an SPV company in Hong Kong, which will hold the relevant domestic assets and business interests and conduct tokenized financing in the form of stablecoins on the blockchain. Therefore, one of Zhao Ziqiang's tasks is to consult with mainland enterprises on how to confirm the rights and evaluate the value of mainland assets, and how to transfer relevant mainland real estate to the Hong Kong SPV company for on - chain tokenized financing.
Zhao Ziqiang said straightforwardly that although every mainland enterprise hopes to conduct RWA in Hong Kong, in the actual operation process, there are not many mainland assets that truly meet the conditions for RWA in Hong Kong. Firstly, the scale of mainland assets is preferably over 200 million RMB to cover the capital operation costs of millions of RMB for RWA in Hong Kong. Otherwise, if the fundraising scale of RWA in Hong Kong is too small, the issuance cost will be relatively high. Secondly, mainland assets should be able to create sustainable and considerable returns while having their rights confirmed to win the favor of digital asset investors in the Hong Kong market. For example, after tokenized financing, photovoltaic power generation or charging pile projects can provide an annual project dividend return of over 5%. Due to these two requirements, many mainland assets are excluded.
Recently, Zhao Ziqiang has found that many mainland enterprises are still “confident” about RWA in Hong Kong even though their asset scale is not large enough and their asset income situation is not ideal.
The reason is that some intermediary institutions emphasize to mainland enterprises the advantages of RWA in Hong Kong, such as short - term financing convenience, no need for complex approvals, and helping enterprises quickly achieve international layout. However, they downplay key aspects such as the legality of underlying assets, the compliance of cross - border structures, and the difficulty of realizing on - chain mechanisms. They even deliberately avoid core issues such as off - chain redemption responsibilities, information disclosure obligations, and regulatory filing paths, leading many mainland enterprises to think that RWA in Hong Kong is “easy”.
“I've encountered many rejections because of this. Some enterprise managers think that I deliberately exaggerate the operation difficulties of RWA in Hong Kong to set up a reason in advance for potential capital operation failures. So they turn to cooperate with those intermediary institutions, which promise that the enterprises' mainland assets can complete the relevant preparations for RWA in Hong Kong by the end of the year.” Zhao Ziqiang said helplessly.
Many RWA consulting industry insiders said straightforwardly that the current RWA consulting and training institutions in the mainland are indeed mixed. There are professional teams that are familiar with the Hong Kong regulatory environment, have in - depth knowledge of digital assets, and can provide substantial support to mainland enterprises in asset modeling, legal adaptation, and on - chain governance. There are also many intermediary institutions that lack experience in RWA project operation and have a “superficial understanding” of the compliance risks of cross - border asset structures, the risks of lack of information disclosure mechanisms, and the design of on - chain and off - chain coordination mechanisms. Their purpose is to “make quick money” while mainland enterprises' enthusiasm for RWA in Hong Kong is high.
The reporter learned that the current operation cost of mainland assets' RWA in Hong Kong is quite high. The costs for preliminary preparation work (asset due diligence and audit evaluation), project planning and feasibility scheme design, asset on - chain technology and user interface development, system security assessment, and preliminary market promotion roadshows are about 300,000, 200,000, 300,000, 200,000, and 300,000 RMB respectively. Therefore, as long as these intermediary institutions “persuade” mainland enterprises to prepare for RWA in Hong Kong by depicting the convenience and broad prospects of RWA in Hong Kong, they can earn over one million RMB in income.
“In the past month, I've often clarified to mainland enterprises (with small - scale RWA assets in Hong Kong and less - than - ideal income capabilities) the many difficulties of RWA in Hong Kong, hoping that they won't spend this unnecessary money.” Zhao Ziqiang said.
Yu Jianing pointed out that when mainland enterprises conduct RWA tokenized financing in Hong Kong, they need to pay high attention to three types of risks at the operational level. Firstly, the compliance risk of cross - border asset structures. Enterprises need to ensure that the asset ownership, cash - flow attribution, and cross - border transfer paths comply with the regulatory standards of both the mainland and Hong Kong during the design process to avoid creating a “structurally transferred but actually non - compliant” situation. Secondly, the risk of lack of information disclosure mechanisms. The Hong Kong market has high requirements for the information transparency of tokenized assets, including asset valuation, redemption paths, risk factors, and custody arrangements. Insufficient information disclosure will directly affect the credibility and investment attractiveness of the project. Thirdly, the imperfect design of on - chain and off - chain coordination mechanisms. If a closed - loop redemption, clearing, and compliance interaction mechanism is not established, problems such as asset de - anchoring, interruption of information disclosure, and legal vacuum may occur during operation. Therefore, before promoting RWA financing in Hong Kong, mainland enterprises should first systematically evaluate whether their legal structure, operational capabilities, and technical support can support the governance of tokenized assets throughout the entire life cycle.
“Compliance” First
Although Zhao Ziqiang constantly reminds mainland enterprises to pay attention to the operation difficulties of RWA in Hong Kong, he has found that some mainland enterprises still have unrealistic expectations for RWA in Hong Kong. For example, some mainland enterprises hope that after the
“I won't make such a promise, but there are always intermediary institutions that vow to guarantee it.” he told the reporter. He is worried that once mainland enterprises find that they have been “deceived”, they will lose trust in RWA tokenized financing, which will affect the development prospects of the entire RWA industry.
He then changed his strategy - emphasizing to mainland enterprises the necessity of compliant operation of RWA in Hong Kong and the relatively long preparation time, gradually guiding them to “rationally” view the actual operation feasibility and success probability of RWA in Hong Kong and no longer be “deceived” by some intermediary institutions.
Wang Shanliang, the director of the Web3.0 Research Center of Dacheng Law Offices, said that there are multiple key points for compliant operation in RWA, including regulatory differences among different countries (such as different regulations on Know Your Customer - KYC and Anti - Money Laundering - AML), the lack of a unified and reliable framework for the authenticity and verification of asset on - chain, the complexity of cross - border regulation and data circulation (although the “two - chain and one - bridge” model solves some problems, the management of data sovereignty and privacy needs to be improved), cross - border payment and foreign exchange control, and the connection and division of labor between smart contracts and legal enforcement. All these require professional institutions to provide compliant and professional solutions.
By popularizing the necessity of compliant operation of RWA in Hong Kong, more and more mainland enterprises are now aware of the “exaggeration” of some intermediary institutions and are starting to look for professional teams familiar with the Hong Kong regulatory environment and experienced in RWA project operation on the blockchain to re - evaluate the feasibility and success probability of relevant assets' RWA in Hong Kong.
Zhao Ziqiang told the reporter that currently, more than 40% of his working time and energy are concentrated on providing various compliance operation suggestions for mainland enterprises in different industries regarding their assets' RWA in Hong Kong.
Yu Jianing pointed out that for mainland enterprises newly involved in digital assets and asset tokenized financing on the blockchain, whether the enterprise has independent and professional judgment on the RWA tokenization logic also determines the success or failure of their projects' RWA in Hong Kong.
This article is from the WeChat official account “Economic Observer”, author: Chen Zhi. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.