China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), announced on Monday, December 29, that it will implement a new action plan to oversee the digital yuan.
The bank explained that the initiative is designed to establish a new system and framework for measuring and managing digital currency, with the plan set to take effect on January 1.
People familiar with the matter said the digital yuan has already moved beyond early trial phases and is entering full-scale application, both within China and internationally, by year-end.
China intends to improve its handling of the digital yuan
China successfully carried out its first cross-border transaction involving digital yuan in Laos, marking a significant development. Reports also noted that the country improved the mBridge platform, a pioneering multi-Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) platform designed to establish digital payments connections among multiple nations for instant service.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed that the digital yuan, also known as e-CNY, operates like current mobile wallets. What makes it unique is that it possesses certain distinctive features.
To support this claim, sources have highlighted that the digital yuan is widely recognized as legal tender in China, unlike popular private apps such as Alipay and WeChat Pay. Notably, as the digital yuan positions itself as legal tender, reports declared that businesses have no option but to accept it.
Typically, transactions are conducted on a complimentary basis for both businesses and clients. However, sources close to the situation claimed that the system offers choices for “controllable anonymity” for minor purchases.
Data retrieved from the People’s Bank of China, published in October, highlighted that the total number of payments settled using the digital yuan almost doubled in the past 14 months, increasing to a record of RMB 14.2 trillion, equivalent to approximately $2 trillion as of September 2025. This rise is up from RMB 7.3 trillion achieved in July 2024.
Notably, the central bank’s recent move followed Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the PBoC, pledging that China’s central bank would adopt effective measures to improve its handling of the digital yuan and explore its alignment with the nation’s overall monetary system. Pan made this statement during the 2025 Annual Conference of the Financial Street Forum.
Pan advocated for change in the financial sector
Following the governor of the PBoC’s pledge, reports clarified that the People’s Bank of China aims to assist more commercial banks to secure authorization to provide digital yuan services freely.
In a statement, Pan noted that the central bank has established a center focused on digital yuan international operations in Shanghai. This center is responsible for managing existing cross-border cooperation and usage.
Nonetheless, this center does not mark the only digital yuan international operation center in China; reports discovered the existence of another digital yuan operations and management center in Beijing. This center primarily focuses on system development, operations, and maintenance to promote broader adoption of the currency.
In the meantime, it is worth noting that Pan also addressed matters of domestic virtual currency trading and prediction. In this situation, the governor claimed that since 2017, the central bank, in collaboration with other relevant authorities, issued several documents intended to halt further spread of related risks and effectively address them. To date, these policies remain active.
Pan weighed in on this update. He asserted that the PBOC will continue to partner with law enforcement to take strong actions against domestic virtual currency trading and speculation activities, in an attempt to ensure that individuals promote economic and financial order.
He also added that, “The central bank will keep a close eye on and actively evaluate how foreign stablecoins are developing.”
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