China’s PBoC reported that the Bank’s digital currency is “progressing smoothly”

By Dorothy 01/6/20 1:15 PM

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), reports that the bank is progressing smoothly with the development of a government-backed digital currency.

The bank made its statement in a working meeting held in Beijing from January 2, according to an official newsletter published yesterday, January 5.

The central bank will promote the development of technical currencies

The central bank said we will continue to promote the development of legal cryptocurrencies by 2020. The central bank announced the development at its annual work conference held in Beijing last week. However, PBoC has not announced the launch date.

China has spent 5 years researching and developing the system for its upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) and conducting its first practical currency pilot in December 2019.

The PBoC recently said that the predictable digital yuan will be distributed to commercial banks and then users and businesses can register digital wallets with these commercial banks.

PBOC has cooperated with seven state-owned commercial and telecommunications banks – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China, China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom – to deploy to test.

Cryptocurrency pilot program in Shenzhen and Suzhou

PBOC will soon test predictable digital currency (DC / EP) payments in Shenzhen and Suzhou cities, according to a report from Chinese financial news agency Caijing.

The pilot program will focus on industries such as transportation, education, commerce, and health care. While some banks choose to partner with telcos to develop SIM cards with integrated digital wallets, others have built their own independent wallet applications.