Hong Kong Financial Secretary Christopher Hui said on Friday that the government would explore more uses for the yuan in payments, including for water import projects and training programs involving mainland institutions, to promote the use of the national currency and hedge against exchange rate risks. Hui noted that the government has received yuan through channels such as issuing yuan-denominated bonds and is advancing plans to allow residents to pay stamp duty on stock transactions in yuan and to add a yuan counter in Stock Connect Southbound Trading. He described this as a "natural process" to balance income and expenditure. In addition, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) will announce details of yuan-denominated, physically settled gold futures contracts this year, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will connect the Faster Payment System (FPS) with UnionPay.