On March 31st, the People’s Bank of China held a symposium on digital Yuan research and innovation to explain the early study and innovation pilot plan and schedule the next phase.
The conference was graced by Yi Gang, the Governor of the PBOC, and Fan Yifei, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, according to a statement from the People’s Bank of China.
“The meeting decided that, since 2017, the PBOC, in partnership with all participating research institutes and with the strong backing of the committees and governments, has produced comprehensive plans and arranged them meticulously. This has helped the country to carry out the pilot projects gradually, dynamically enhance the technological business design, keep developing application scenarios, and concentrate on addressing financial service challenges.
Widespread Adoption Of The Digital Yuan
According to conference attendees, the pain points have confirmed the feasibility and reliability of virtual renminbi-related theories, legislation, companies, and technology. The digital renminbi has grown into several application patterns in the retail and wholesale, catering, cultural tourism, and payment processing sectors.
The PBoC asserts, without giving specific proof or information, that major experiments like the 2022 Beijing Olympics were successfully completed, that “the number of users, vendors, and transactions partaking in the project has increased steadily, and the industry has responded positively.”
Yet, the PBoC does not seem to feel that the electronic renminbi is prepared for widespread use; instead, testing will continue in new towns and municipalities. The PBoC said there are still problems that need to be addressed via more research and investigation.
To that end, the statement acknowledges that medical research on the electronic renminbi will face new circumstances and difficulties in demonstrating convenience, maximizing inclusiveness, highlighting innovation, ensuring security, reflecting conformity, and enhancing sustainability.
The Development Of Softer Values Is Critical To The Future
However, there are suggestions in the statement that the future viability of the virtual renminbi and its capacity to “play a bigger role” is a matter of “softer” principles. The principles include promoting local economic growth, aiding in establishing virtual government affairs, enhancing the efficiency and quality of financial products for the financial sector, and enhancing the business climate.
The PBoC conference “demanded” that all parties involved adhere to the “14th Five-Year Plan” plan, preserve an overall tone of advancement while preserving stability, embrace their duties, collaborate, and gradually develop the pilot scheme of digital RMB product development, another phrase that may be taken as meaning that certain parties lack the requisite attitude and mentality.
The most tangible result of the PBoC meeting is an expansion of the trial’s regional reach. According to the statement, the project will be extended “orderly” to Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Xiamen, and six cities in Zhejiang, which will host the Asian Games later this year.
The West Is Pondering, While China Is Moving Forward
Overall, there is no doubt that China is speeding up the implementation of the virtual renminbi, having lately extended the testing areas to include additional cities and regions. Based on how the indications are read, the trials and studies done so far have shown a number of challenges, which have been recognized by the PBoC and explained in a fairly hazy way in the statement.
Meanwhile, the development of various CBDCs in the West and other areas of the world is mostly in the conceptual research phase, especially in the US and the EU. As previously reported by CryptoSlate, two months ago, the Federal Reserve of Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released the first wave of results in designing virtual money, dubbed Project Hamilton.
Various countries such as Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Africa have shown interest in Project Dunbar, which will look at the viability of numerous CBDCS.