MNI BRIEF: PBOC To Extend CBDC Trials

The People's Bank of China will expand its program of domestic test pilots for the digital yuan, exploring the possibility of further cross-border cooperation, the central bank told reporters Friday while publishing the first white paper for its upcoming e-CNY, although not yet confirming a specific timeline for the official launch.

The digital currency will be further tested to see the full scope of the e-CNY, highlighting the security and privacy protection of the system, said Fan Yifei, vice governor of the PBOC. As of June 30, various pilot events of the e-CNY in multiple Chinese cities has seen 70 million transactions totaling to 34.5 billion yuan through 20 million retail e-CNY wallets and 3.5 million business e-CNY wallets, Fan said.

E-CNY will "mainly serve" domestic retail payment demand and is based on the cash payment certificate (M0), Mu Changchun, director-general of the PBOC Digital Currency Institute said, noting it will coexist with physical yuan and traditional digital payment facilities. Looking forward, China will work with global organizations and countries to test cross-border payment of digital currencies, the white paper noted.