The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the nation’s central bank with over $3.2 trillion in reserves, recently held a discussion in the capital city of Beijing.
The PBoC’s officials confirmed during the conference (held on April 3, 2020) that the reserve bank would continue to conduct research and development work related to the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
During the meeting, the PBoC’s officials discussed the institution’s achievements with traditional assets including fiat money, various securities, and precious metals such as gold and silver (since the end of last year).
PBoC’s executives assessed the reserve bank’s current challenges while confirming that the institution remains committed to exploring the potential benefits of introducing a CBDC.
The PBoC stated:
“The top priority is to enhance the top level system design, unswervingly advance the research and development of CBDC, systematically promote the reform of cash issuance and return systems, and accelerate the promotion of banknote processing business, issuance of bank guards and issuance funds.”
As mentioned in a report from the Global Times on March 24, 2020, which cited “industry insiders,” the PBoC appeared to have finalized the development of a CBDC’s core functionalities through a collaborative effort involving several local private companies.
The Chinese reserve bank is now in the process of formulating applicable laws and regulations in order to issue the virtual yuan or renminbi.
Other countries have also been working on their own versions of a CBDC.
The Banque de France – the central bank of France – has requested that companies submit applications to perform a CBDC experiment with the institution.
The work relating to the experiments is reportedly being coordinated by the Infrastructures, Innovation and Payments Directorate (DIIP), within the General Financial Stability and Operations Directorate (DGSO). The experiments will be conducted with support from the Banque de France’s open innovation laboratory (LAB).