The main aim of the partnership is to allow BNP Paribas China’s corporate clients to link up with the BOC system. This will allow users to manage their digital yuan wallets by connecting them to their bank accounts, tracking transactions, and making payments using China’s digital currency via an e-CNY management system. The management system also aims to make it easier for clients to use digital cash for real-time transactions.
According to cointelegraph.com, BNP Paribas China is also looking to explore the use of China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) in other segments, including smart contracts, supply chain finance, utility and cross-border payments.
In order to kick-start CBDC adoption in China, the BOC gave away millions in digital yuan during the Lunar New Year period. Some cities gave away more than 180 million yuan or USD 26.5 million worth of CBDCs through programmes such as subsidies and consumption coupons.
Cointelegraph.com further reports that China’s efforts to encourage the adoption of the digital yuan have not been very successful in regions such as Hong Kong. Specifically, during the first four days of the hard launch of the digital yuan wallet, just 625 residents signed up.
In January 2023, the People’s Bank of China (PBC) included the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-CNY, in its currency circulation report. According to the central bank’s 2022 financial statics report, as of December 2022, there were 13.61 billion e-CNY in circulation, worth around USD 2 billion at the time of writing. In December, the currency in circulation registered an increase at a rate of 15.3%, with the broad money supply having been reported to be 266.43 trillion CNY.
Following the addition of the e-CNY to its figures, the PBC advised that no ‘notable changes’ were caused to growth rates. Furthermore, the 13.61 billion e-CNY made up about 0.13% of the 10.47 trillion CNY reported to have been in circulation at the end of 2022.
The e-CNY is issued by the PBC, and it is also known as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP), or the digital RMB. The CDBC is part of China’s ongoing efforts at having its currency digitised, with the digitalisation including currently circulating banknotes and coins. Therefore, the e-CNY is a part of the country’s monetary base and makes up part of the cash in circulation, being mainly intended towards the use of high-frequency small-scale retail transactions.
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