The 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Festival kicked off today (April 20) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Financial Secretary Paul Chan said that digital intelligence is being embedded into the economy, and the rise of AI agents this year marks another noteworthy milestone.
Chan further pointed out that the convergence of Web3 and AI will be a "game-changer." Their integration will elevate transaction efficiency across various activities — including finance, trade, wealth management, supply chain operations, and logistics — to new levels, creating vast new opportunities while also presenting challenges that must be addressed.
Regarding the challenges in the integrated development of Web3 and AI, Chan highlighted three areas. First, infrastructure and standard coordination: if AI can complete operations in milliseconds, the underlying payment and settlement infrastructure must keep pace. Second, human control and security: intelligent agents have autonomous decision-making capabilities, so it is essential to ensure that their behaviour is predictable, traceable and subject to human interaction, establishing clear "guardrails" to guarantee human dominance and to detect and prevent abuse, manipulation or serious errors promptly. Third, regulation and accountability: regulatory and governance frameworks must be extended accordingly; decentralisation and digital intelligence do not imply weaker accountability or lower standards.
Chan noted that earlier this month, Hong Kong issued its first licences for stablecoin issuers. Stablecoins are expected to address long-standing pain points in economic activities such as cross-border trade and payments, while Hong Kong is progressively advancing related work.
Looking ahead, Chan said that as 5G and AI enter an accelerated phase of development, Hong Kong needs to continuously encourage and support more innovative applications, keep summarising experience, and adjust its strategies with an open and balanced attitude to keep pace with change. Hong Kong will become a hub where next-generation technologies are developed, applied, and promoted.
Related News:
PwC estimates govt deficit for FY 2025/26 to be only HK$200 mn
Comment