Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAY 2021年5月 亞博匯 12 亞博匯早報 BREAKFAST BRIEFS MACAU TO AMEND FINANCIAL LAWS TO ALLOW FOR CHINA’S DIGITAL RMB 澳門擬修訂金融法以引入 內地數字人民幣 MACAU CHIEF EXECUTIVE Ho Iat Seng says the government is planning to amend its financial laws to allow for the introduction of China’s Digital RMB in the future. Ho told the Legislative Assembly that digital currencies were becoming globally accepted and that it was imperative Macau follows suit given the mainland Chinese government has outlined its intention to release a Digital RMB following pilot testing in several cities recently. “Although Macau has not yet reached this process at this stage, we should follow the pace of themainland government,” he said. “We will keep communication with the People’s Bank of China and start a feasibility study around launching the Digital RMB in Macau. Therefore, we need to add provisions in relevant law to allow for the introduction of digital currencies.” China took its first steps towards a Digital RMB in late 2019 via a pilot program in Shenzhen, Guangdong, Suzhou, Chengdu, Sichuan and Xiong’an New Area. The People’s Bank of China revealed in April that it has now expanded the program to six more cities – Shanghai, Changsha, Xi’an, Qingdao, Dalian and Liaoning – as of October 2020. China’s Digital RMB has the potential to be a game- changer for Macau by overhauling entire payment systems, reducing reliance on payment apps such as WeChatPay and Alipay and potentially replacing the pataca as Macau’s main currency. 澳門行政長官 賀一誠表示，政府正計劃修改金融相關法律，以允 許未來引入內地的電子人民幣。 賀一誠向立法會表示，數字貨幣在國際已是大勢所趨，內地 政府已在多地設試點推動電子人民幣，澳門亦應該跟隨。 他表示：「雖然澳門目前尚未到此階段，但我們應該跟隨中央 政府的步伐。我們將持續與中國人民銀行溝通，於澳門展開發行 數字人民幣的可行性研究。因此，需要在相關法律加入條款以允 許發行數字貨幣。」 中國自2019年起在深圳、廣東、蘇州、成都、四川和雄安新區 展開首階段電子人民幣試點計劃。 中國人民銀行於四月公佈，自去年十月起已在六個城市 – 上 海、長沙、西安、青島、大連和遼寧推動試點計劃。 內地數字人民幣因其可徹底改變支付方式、減少對微信和支 付寶等手機支付程式的依賴，從而有可能成為改變澳門博彩業的 關鍵，並有可能取代澳門幣成為澳門的主要貨幣。