The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has announced via its official news outlet that all preparations have been completed for the launch of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The article “New Development Opportunities for China’s Statutory Digital Currency” (中国法定数字货币发展新机遇) published by PBOC’s Financial News (中国金融) on 19 September said that it had “completed technical preparations” for the CBDC, and that it already “satisfied conditions for deployment.”
The article said that PBOC commenced research into a statutory digital currency in 2014, and that by January of 2017 it had established a Digital Currency Research Institute.
As of April 2020 PBOC had submitted 22 patent applications covering digital currency issuance, 65 concerning digital currency circulation, and 43 on applications, resulting in the formation of a “complete industry chain.”
PBOC announced at the end of April 2020 that it had commenced internal testing of the CBDC at locations including Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong’an New District and Chengdu, as well as at sites for the Winter Olympics.
In early August reports emerged indicating that at least four of the big six state-owned banks had commenced testing of digital renminbi wallets, including Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), ICBC, Bank of China (BOC) and China Construction Bank.
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