China digital currency: e-CNY offers chance to ‘reshape’ global payments, boost use of yuan, experts say

Authorities should promote Chinese standards for all digital currencies, which will help expand international use of the yuan, experts say

Beijing hopes wider use of the e-CNY will temper risks of financial decoupling if Washington moves to exclude China from the dollar system

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Beijing has high hopes for the e-CNY, which has been piloted across the country and been used by tens of millions of Chinese. Photo: AP

Published: 9:30pm, 5 Sep 2022

China should take a lead role in creating international rules on digital currencies to help expand global settlements using the yuan.

That was the message from prominent Chinese academics who spoke at the China International Fair for Trade in Services at the weekend, where the country’s digital currency, known as the e-CNY, and efforts to internationalise the yuan took centre stage.

Beijing has high hopes for the e-CNY, which has been piloted across the country and been used by tens of millions of Chinese.

Authorities are keen to promote its use in international transactions amid risks of US financial decoupling, which could deny China access to the dollar system, and secondary sanctions on trade with countries under Western sanctions like Russia or Iran.

Feng Dengguo, a specialist in communication and information security at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said authorities should be more proactive in formulating international conventions for digital currencies.

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