China to Create Global Network for Mobile Payments Based on Digital Yuan

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China is exploring the possibility of setting up an international mobile payment clearing and settlement network based on the national digital yuan cryptocurrency, CoinDesk has reported citing local publication People’s Daily.

According to it, the network will become a “breakthrough point” in the cross-border use of DCEP or digital yuan, the central bank digital currency (CBDC) developed by the Chinese authorities.

Song Ke, deputy director of the International Monetary Research Institute at the People’s University of China, said:

“The internationalization of the renminbi is a necessity for China’s economic development, but also an inevitability given its economic progress.”

The DCEP will enable the authorities to improve the monitoring of cross-border capital flows.

The internationalization of the yuan is listed as one of the goals of the Chinese government’s five-year plan even though this has not been officially confirmed.

The Chinese authorities have been testing the currency since the spring of last year, and so far it has been used in transactions worth at least $5 billion.