Wu Jiezhuang spearheads a joint effort between China and South Korea to break the deadlock in Web3.

On March 23, the "Hong Kong-Korea Web3 Policy Promotion Alliance" was officially established. This is not a conventional regional forum, but rather a cross-regional policy collaboration platform promoted by the private sector. The alliance was jointly initiated by Hong Kong Legislative Council member Ng Kit-chung and South Korean National Assembly member and initiator of the Digital Asset Basic Law bill, Min Byung-deok. When Hong Kong's financial system capabilities begin to connect with South Korea's technology and market dynamism, this cooperation, driven by key policy participants from both regions, may impact not only Web3 or AI itself, but also the underlying structure of digital asset operations. Complementary Advantages For a long time, while the Asian Web3 market has been active, it has generally exhibited a relatively fragmented development. Hong Kong, relying on its mature financial system, continues to advance its compliance and regulatory framework, with its institutional foundation gradually improving from virtual asset licensing to the soon-to-be-launched stablecoin issuance mechanism. South Korea, on the other hand, is more market- and technology-driven, having formed a highly active industrial ecosystem in terms of crypto asset adoption, trading activity, and blockchain and AI applications. Wu Jiezhuang pointed out that Hong Kong and South Korea have significant complementarity in the fields of Web3, artificial intelligence, and digital assets. Based on this, this cooperation does not stop at the directional level but directly focuses on several key lines: the coordinated development of blockchain and AI, the compliance path for digital assets, stablecoin mechanisms, and cross-border data flows. These issues themselves are the most restrictive and also the most amplifying core aspects of the current digital economy. As these directions gradually advance, the cooperation between the two regions is expected to shift from single-point collaborations to a more systematic approach involving cross-border pilot programs and mechanism alignment. From a broader perspective, this cooperation reflects the phased differentiation of the global digital asset regulatory system. The US and Europe, relying on their mature financial systems and regulatory experience, entered the rule-building phase earlier, gradually forming their own frameworks, from stablecoin regulation to overall system design. Asia is not absent. Whether it's Hong Kong's advancement of a virtual asset licensing system or South Korea's promotion of digital asset legislation, both are essentially building regulatory systems suited to their own market environments, only lagging behind Europe and the US in terms of timing. However, it is precisely this "time lag" that provides greater room for adjustment for developing regions. Hong Kong and South Korea represent two paths: "regulatory capacity" and "market vitality," respectively. When these two capabilities begin to converge, the significance extends beyond mere policy communication; it represents an attempt to construct a new combination. More specifically, this convergence also corresponds to a match of real-world needs—South Korea's vibrant industries and capital require clearer compliant pathways for absorption; while Hong Kong's well-developed financial infrastructure needs richer business scenarios and sources of liquidity. In this process, Hong Kong's role as a "super-connector" begins to move from concept to concrete reality: through institutional and channel design, connecting regional technology and capital to a broader international market. **Stage Shift** If we extend the timeframe, this collaboration corresponds to a change in the development stage of stablecoins. In the past few years, the core issue in the industry has focused on "who will issue stablecoins," with competition revolving around scale, liquidity, and credit. However, as the infrastructure matures, the question is shifting to the next stage: how do these "on-chain funds" enter the real economic system, and under what rules do they flow? Different regions are offering their own paths. Singapore is exploring the on-chain transformation of traditional financial assets through Project Guardian; Europe is unifying regulatory standards through the MiCA framework; and the United States is beginning to restrict the "deposit-like" nature of stablecoins, redefining their financial boundaries. While the paths differ, the goal is the same—stablecoins are shifting from "crypto market tools" to "financial infrastructure." Against this backdrop, the cooperation between Hong Kong and South Korea will gradually manifest in more specific capital flow structures. Traditional cross-border capital flows rely on a multi-layered intermediary system for clearing and settlement, resulting in complex and costly processes. However, when stablecoins are integrated with regulatory frameworks, some capital flows may shift to on-chain processing, thereby reducing intermediaries and improving efficiency. This change will not replace the existing system in the short term, but it will gradually open up new pathways. Once these pathways emerge, the structure will begin to loosen. If regionally coordinated rules continue to advance, the result will not only be increased efficiency but also changes in capital pricing and settlement logic—structures previously concentrated in a single system may begin to decentralize. This does not mean that a particular system is replaced, but rather that capital flows across regions will have more channels to choose from. On the eve of the trial, another noteworthy detail is that this cooperation is not a traditional inter-state agreement, but rather unfolds in the form of grassroots policy coordination. This allows it to avoid reaching a highly unified institutional design at the outset, and instead gradually advance through more flexible pilot programs and collaborations, forming consensus from practice, and then influencing rule-making. The evolution of many financial infrastructures often follows this path. From this perspective, this alliance is more like a preliminary "structural experiment." It attempts to answer a longer-term question: as stablecoins begin to enter the real economy, and as the possibility of integration between different regulatory systems emerges, will the flow of funds gradually shift from a "single-center" to a "multi-regional parallel" model? If this trend proves true, then this seemingly regional cooperation today may affect not only Hong Kong or South Korea, but the entire operating system of digital assets.