Digital renminbi

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Digital renminbi (Chinese: 数字人民币; also abbreviated as digital RMB and e-CNY),[1] or Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP, Chinese: 数字货币电子支付; pinyin: Shùzì huòbì diànzǐ zhīfù), is a central bank digital currency issued by China's central bank, the People's Bank of China.[2] It is the first digital currency to be issued by a major economy, undergoing public testing as of April 2021.[2][3] The digital RMB is legal tender[4] and has equivalent value with other forms of renminbi, also known as the Chinese yuan (CNY), such as bills and coins.[2]

The digital yuan is designed to move instantaneously in both domestic and international transactions.[2][5] It aims to be cheaper and faster than existing financial transactions.[2] The technology enables transactions to take place between two offline devices.[6][7]

The digital renminbi is seen by some commentators as a form of Chinese government surveillance and control over users and their financial transactions.[2][8]

History[]

A sign showing that a store accepts digital RMB in Shenzhen, Guangdong
A sign showing that a store accepts digital RMB in Shenzhen, Guangdong

China's central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), began research on the digital currency in 2014 under the leadership of Governor Zhou Xiaochuan.[9][2] In 2016, Fan Yifei, a deputy governor of the PBOC, wrote that "the conditions are ripe for digital currencies, which can reduce operating costs, increase efficiency and enable a wide range of new applications".[10] According to Fan, the best way to take advantage of the situation is for central banks to take the lead, both in supervising private digital currencies and in developing digital legal tender of their own.[11]

In 2017, the State Council approved the development of the digital RMB, in partnership with commercial banks and other organizations.[12] Chinese technology firms such as Alibaba (through its affiliate Ant Group), Tencent (which owns WeChat), Huawei, JD.com and UnionPay were invited to cooperate with the central bank in developing and testing digital RMB.[13][14]

Testing[]

In October 2019, the PBOC announced that a digital renminbi would be released after years of preparation.[15] The version of the currency, known as DCEP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment),[16] requires an account with a commercial bank, but may be "decoupled" from the banking system in the future, allowing tourists to gain access to the system.[17]

In April 2020, testing began in four cities around China (Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Xiong'an) to improve the currency's functionality.[9][12] Areas of testing include the currency's reliability, stability, ease of use, and regulatory concerns such as the prevention of money laundering, tax evasion and terror financing.[12] The currency could be transferred to bank accounts or used directly with certain merchants, and could be controlled via apps on one's smartphone.[9] As of April 2021, more than 100,000 have downloaded such apps, which were developed by banks, including six state-owned banks.[2][18] The digital currency could be spent in stores like Starbucks and McDonald's in China, as well as online shopping platforms like JD.com.[2][18] Local governments, partnering with private businesses, have distributed more than 150 million RMB as incentive to attract test users of digital RMB and to stimulate consumption.[4][18]

As of April 2021, testing has been expanded to six additional regions: Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao and Dalian.[19]

It may also be tested at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.[20][21][22]

Goals[]

The PBOC has stated that the goal of launching digital RMB is to partially replace cash, but not bank deposits or privately run payment platforms.[9] The bank claimed that digital RMB could be used to reduce money laundering, gambling, corruption and terror financing, and may improve the efficiency of financial transactions.[9] The central bank also stated that it would limit how it tracks individuals, through the so-called "controllable anonymity."[2] Critics say that the currency will give the Chinese government a new tool to monitor its people and financial transactions.[2] In 2020, non-cash transactions represented 4 out of 5 payment transactions totaling a sum of 320 trillion yuan.

Li Bo, deputy governor of the PBOC, stated that the "goal is not to replace the U.S. dollar or other international currencies".[23]

Effects[]

On digital payment platforms[]

According to World Bank data, in 2017, almost 20% of Chinese over 15 did not hold a bank account.[24] As of February 2021, 87% of the population have access to fintech apps such as WeChat Pay and Alipay,[25] which together account for more than 90% of electronic payments in China as of 2021.[7]

Chinese fintech apps have largely leapfrogged traditional card-based payment networks in China, due to the fintech apps' ease of use and much cheaper fees for merchants.[26] Transfers within Wechat Pay and Alipay are free within their respective ecosystems, and generally have a 0.1% fee for transfers outside their ecosystem, much lower than the 2–4% fee imposed by credit cards.[26] Wechat Pay and Alipay each have over a billion users in China,[27][28] and are used by over 90% of the population in China's largest cities as their preferred payment method.[26] The digital yuan might sideline these private digital payment platforms.[7]

Internationally[]

The digital RMB could provide a cheaper and more practical alternative to international transactions that are outside the U.S.-led global financial system, especially for countries with strong ties to China.[2][6] It is feared by U.S. commentators and officials that the digital RMB would weaken the ability of the U.S. to monitor and control the global financial system, through "dollar weaponization," such as sanctions[2][29] and through its intelligence access to the SWIFT payment system.[30]

Reactions[]

Some commentators have said that the U.S., which has only started to consider to issue a government-backed digital currency, risks falling behind China and weakening its dominance in the global financial system.[31][29] The digital renminbi has been described as a "national-security issue" threatening the US dollar by Josh Lipsky at the Atlantic Council think tank.[2] It is also seen by commentators as a tool to allow Chinese authorities to keep domestic control and surveillance capabilities.[2][32]

Some argue that the real barriers to internationalisation of the renminbi are China's capital controls, which it has no plans to remove. Maximilian Kärnfelt, an expert at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, said that a digital renminbi "would not banish many of the problems holding the renminbi back from more use globally". He went on to say, "Much of China's financial market is still not open to foreigners and property rights remain fragile."[8] Victor Shih, a China expert and professor at the University of California San Diego, said that merely introducing a digital currency "doesn't solve the problem that some people holding renminbi offshore will want to sell that renminbi and exchange it for the dollar", as the dollar is considered to be a safer asset.[33] Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University, said that the digital renminbi "will hardly put a dent in the dollar's status as the dominant global reserve currency" due to the United States' "economic dominance, deep and liquid capital markets, and still-robust institutional framework".[33][34] The U.S. dollar's share as a reserve currency is above 60%, while that of the renminbi is about 2%.[33]

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have said that they are studying the effects of digital currencies like the digital RMB and how they will affect the U.S. dollar.[2]

The EU is also considering to issue a digital euro.[35] According to Clingendael Institute, digital currencies such as the digital yuan threaten the growing position of the euro as an alternative to the dollar.[36]

See also[]

  • Belt and Road Initiative
  • Internationalization of the renminbi
  • Swedish krona#The e-krona

References[]

  1. ^ "China Charges Ahead With a National Digital Currency". The New York Times. 2021-03-01. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Areddy, James T. (2021-04-05). "China Creates its Own Digital Currency, a First for Major Economy". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  3. ^ Popper, Nathaniel; Li, Cao (2021-03-01). "China Charges Ahead With a National Digital Currency". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  4. ^ a b "解码数字人民币："新"在何处 用在哪里？-新华网". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  5. ^ Bloomberg (26 Nov 2021) China Looks To Set Up Digital Asset Bourse in Virtual Yuan Push
  6. ^ a b "Virtual control: the agenda behind China's new digital currency". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  7. ^ a b c "Beijing's digital yuan policy will have its Huawei moment". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  8. ^ a b Kynge, James; Yu, Sun (February 16, 2021). "Virtual control: the agenda behind China's new digital currency". Financial Times. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e Cheng, Jonathan (2020-04-20). "China Rolls Out Pilot Test of Digital Currency". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  10. ^ "Central Banks Consider Bitcoin's Technology, if Not Bitcoin". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  11. ^ "On Digital Currencies, Central Banks Should Lead - Bloomberg View". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  12. ^ a b c Wu, Yu (2020-08-15). "别误读了！目前数字人民币试点仍是"4+1"-新华网". Xinhua. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  13. ^ "Ant Group shows off its work on China's digital currency for the first time". South China Morning Post. 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  14. ^ Castillo, Michael del. "Alibaba, Tencent, Five Others To Receive First Chinese Government Cryptocurrency". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  15. ^ Tabeta, Shunsuke (31 December 2019). "China's digital yuan takes shape with new encryption law". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  16. ^ Authority, Hong Kong Monetary. "Hong Kong Monetary Authority - Hong Kong FinTech Week 2019". Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  17. ^ "Digital yuan tsar gives green light for tourists to go cashless in China". South China Morning Post. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  18. ^ a b c "四城七轮数字人民币红包 累计已发1.5亿元-新华网". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  19. ^ Tao, Li (2021-04-25). "央行数研所牵手蚂蚁集团 将推动建设数字人民币技术平台". finance.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2021-05-02.
  20. ^ China may test digital yuan with foreign visitors at Beijing Olympics
  21. ^ Republicans urge US Olympic Committee to ban China's digital yuan for Beijing 2022 winter games
  22. ^ China digital currency: Beijing tells US senators to 'stop making trouble' after e-yuan warning over 2022 Winter Olympics
  23. ^ "China says it has no plans to replace dollar with digital yuan". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  24. ^ "Financial Inclusion Data". datatopics.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  25. ^ "China's Digital Currency: Mao Would be Proud". Martens Centre. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  26. ^ a b c Klein, Aaron. "China's digital payments revolution." Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, April (2020).
  27. ^ Shi Yinglun, "Alipay reports 1.2 bln users", Xinhua, October 1, 2019
  28. ^ Alyssa Abkowitz, "The Cashless Society Has Arrived – Only It's in China", The Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2018
  29. ^ a b "Biden Team Eyes Potential Threat From China's Digital Yuan". Bloomberg.com. 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2021-04-19. Powell said in February the Fed was looking "very carefully" at a digital dollar.
  30. ^ "China launch of renminbi payments system reflects Swift spying concerns". Financial Times. 2015-10-08.
  31. ^ "Is the US worried it is falling behind China's digital currency?". South China Morning Post. 2021-03-17. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  32. ^ "China's proposed digital currency more about policing than progress". Reuters. 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  33. ^ a b c Hui, Mary (September 10, 2020). "The same problems plaguing the yuan will plague China's digital currency". Quartz. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  34. ^ Prasad, Eswar (August 25, 2020). "China's Digital Currency Will Rise but Not Rule". Project Syndicate. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  35. ^ Bank, European Central (2021-04-13). "Digital euro". European Central Bank. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  36. ^ "Monetary sovereignty: why the EU needs a digital euro | Clingendael spectator". spectator.clingendael.org. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
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