The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the nation’s central bank, has reportedly stated that the “top-level” design of its national digital currency has been finalized.
The Chinese reserve bank revealed the development of the sovereign digital currency in a new paper, confirming that the “top-level design, standard formulation, functional research and development” had been successfully completed.
The next steps in the development of a state-backed digital currency will involve adhering to the principles of stability, security and control, according to Mu Changchun, head of the PBoC’s digital currency research division.
The news seems to be the latest major development from the PBoC concerning its digital yuan or Renminbi. The central bank had recently noted that the digital currency project had been “progressing smoothly.”
The exact launch date of a virtual yuan has still not been announced.
The PBoC noted earlier last week:
“We will continue to steadily advance the development of legal digital currencies [in 2020.]”
China’s national digital currency project has reportedly been under development for the past five years. The highly-anticipated virtual yuan will be initially distributed to local commercial banking institutions and then individual consumers and companies will be able to register or sign up for online wallets with these commercial banks, the PBoC has confirmed.
The first local cities to test the digital currency will be Fintech hub Shenzhen and Suzhou. The PBoC says it has teamed up with with seven state-backed commercial banks and telecommunication firms, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom. The reserve bank will be testing the new virtual currency with the help of these institutions.