The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) says top officials from the People's Bank of China and the authority met on Friday to discuss the linkage of fast payments systems between the mainland and Hong Kong.

Lu Lei, the deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, and Howard Lee, the deputy chief executive of the HKMA, also signed a memorandum of understanding on the linkage of cross-boundary payment systems.

The two also agreed to set up a cooperation framework.