According to the GlobalTimes report, the People’s Bank of China might be looking to accelerate the process of issuing its centralized digital currency. The move is being speculated so China could counter potential US threats to its financial institutions and the yuan’s international settlement. Digital yuan would also help to facilitate the implementation and management of large-scale post-COVID-19 stimulus, according to an industry insider. The pilot test of digital yuan is currently being carried out in four Chinese cities.
“Digital yuan may be rolled out sooner than expected.”
Cao Yin, a Beijing-based blockchain industry insider, told the Global Times that although the US hasn’t put Chinese financial firms and institutions onto its Entity List. However, the US may still pose widespread threats to Chinese institutions and impact the yuan’s standing in international settlement. In this regard, China’s centralized digital currency may be rolled out sooner than expected to counter a possible US block. The People’s Bank of China’s governor revealed that internal pilot tests of the central bank’s digital currency are being carried out in four cities, including Shenzhen in South China’s Guangdong Province and the Xiongan New Area.
The PBoC has not revealed the official date of launch yet.
The central bank of China had also revealed that the digital yuan might be tested in scenarios for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. However, the central bank has not announced the official date for the launch of national digital currency. The governor of PBoC said that these tests are routine work for the research and development (R&D) of the digital currency and that no schedule for an official launch has been revealed yet. The world is highly anticipating the digital version of yuan as it would be the first major country to launch its CBDC. Several economists and experts in the field have claimed that digital yuan could threaten the global dominance of the US dollar.
