The Chinese central bank confirms digital Yuan mobile app trials

According to a statement, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) conducts internal tests for the national digital currency (DECP) in four different cities including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong’An, and Chengdu. The same cities were registered for the test application. 

China’s central bank confirmed it will be testing a mobile app for the digital yuan in four cities with a fifth in the works, and emphasized it’s only a test.

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The PBoC emphasized that this was just a test. An official from the China Digital Currency Institute commented, “The rumored information about the DECP on the internet is part of the test in our research and development process and it does not mean the digital yuan has been launched officially.” 

He further explained that the pilot projects were internally closed-circuit tests that would not affect the operations of the companies involved, financial markets or currency circulation outside the test environment. 

PBoC did not clearly outline the schedule of the projects. The bank did, however, say that it has plans to conduct another internal test during the Winter Olympic Games hosted in Beijing in 2022.

The Chinese central bank arranged a task force to examine a national virtual currency in 2014. Authorized by the State Council, PBoC called on key commercial banks and other influential institutions to design a platform for the digital yuan in 2017. The bank denied reports in August that it had plans to initiate the digital yuan in November 2019.