Hong Kong Hands Out More Crypto Licenses (TWIF-China 12/19)

China's consumption growth is still lagging behind its factory output. 

There are recent signs of stabilization in the economy following government stimulus efforts.

Hong Kong SFC granted four new virtual asset licenses to Accumulus, DFX Labs, Hong Kong Digital Asset EX and Thousand Whales Technology (BVI). 

US Congress will soon vote on a bill to restrict U.S. investments in China, following Treasury rules effective January 2 that limit investments in sensitive technologies like artificial intelligence due to national security concerns.

Canada plans to impose tariffs on various Chinese products as early as next year.

Goldman Sachs has received regulatory approval to sell funds in China, reflecting Beijing's ongoing commitment to opening its financial sector to foreign firms.

Spend management company Moss partnered with Airwallex to enable global payments on its platform. 

UnionPay and Wise announced a product upgrade to improve their cross-border payment experience. 

Ant International has joined Swift's Network Interoperability Reference Implementation program to enhance transparency in cross-border payments.

SF-based cross-border payment company Klasha has teamed up with LianLian Global to facilitate payments between China and Africa.

Ant Group denied rumors of restarting its IPO process amid market speculation.. 

TikTok is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in a final attempt to avoid a ban. 

Hong Kong's six largest banks have lowered their prime lending rates for the third time this year, reaching the lowest levels in over two years, despite HKMA’s warning of volatility. 

Singapore-based bank OCBC committed to expand its HK presence by opening a new office and expanding its workforce in the region.