China Should Accelerate Rollout of Digital Yuan, Says Central Bank Official

Oct 12, 2020 at 13:18 UTCUpdated Oct 12, 2020 at 13:32 UTC.While China has already taken the global lead in developing a central bank digital currency, an official at the People's Bank of China says the effort should be accelerated.

Chen Yulu, deputy governor of the central bank, said in an article over the weekend that the digital yuan project should form an "Independent" and "High-quality" element of the nation's financial infrastructure, South China Morning Post reports.

In comments published by the central bank's own China Finance magazine, Chen added research and development for the digital yuan should proceed at faster pace, while pilots should show the CBDC is "Controllable and safeguards the security of payments."

China recently announced a new focus on an economic strategy dubbed "Dual circulation," which would rely more on internal demand to buffer against international tensions, especially with the U.S."We must serve dual circulation with fintech-led innovations," Chen said about the digital yuan.

The CBDC project is already thought to be closing in on a full launch, having been in testing in major cities with banks and commercial enterprises.

Last week the city of Shenzhen, together with the central bank, launched a kind of lottery allowing local residents to apply for some of 10 million digital yuan that will be handed out.

A report at the time suggested thousands of retailers are already set up to accept the digital currency.

Other nations are still far behind, with many still at the investigation stage and a few others, such as South Korea and Japan, planning initial testing next year.