China continues to expand the usage of its digital central bank currency. With the state-owned e-yuan, Beijing wants to curb the financial power of private companies like Alipay. In the long term, it wants to push the internationalization of the yuan. Central bank chief Yi Gang now revealed the first details of these goals.
By Frank Sieren
The Chinese government is working at full speed on the "money of the future" – the digital renminbi. They do not want to leave the field to commercial payment providers and want to retain access to valuable data on payment flows. The US central bank, the Fed, has seen a little rush to introduce an e-currency so far. The ECB, on the other hand, wants to decide on the e-euro this summer but still has some problems.
By Redaktion Table
Bitcoin is a natural enemy of China's financial controls, which are as seamless as possible. After the ban on crypto trading platforms four years ago, the power is now being cut off to miners in more and more provinces. Now, many companies flee the People's Republic and look for new locations abroad.
By Redaktion Table
China wants to be the first major economy to introduce a state-owned digital currency. Companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com support the introduction. The first tests are already underway. Beijing is pursuing a major goal: The e-CNY is supposed to become the new world currency. But the project still has its limits. An interim solution could pave the way.
By Frank Sieren
China's new digital renminbi by itself will not help the currency to challenge the US dollar's global dominance. Its true significance instead lies in its potential to shift the competitive balance of power between the country's technology giants and traditional banks.
By Redaktion Table
In recent years, the Chinese government has made great strides in introducing the digital central bank currency. Europe should not waste any more time and digitize the euro quickly – and just like the Chinese, in a first step as an ECB interbank standard that commercial banks can then pass on to end customers.
By Redaktion Table