Development of Dual Offline Digital Renminbi Wallets Is Complete: Chinese Central Bank’s Digital Currency Chief

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The head of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Digital Currency Research Institute Mu Changchun (穆长春) has revealed details concerning the development of dual offline wallets for the digital renminbi.

Mu said that full development of “dual offline” (双离线) wallets had been completed, and that their usage has thus far proved to be “comparatively successful.”

“During the process of subsequent trials it will also be adopted,” said Mu at the 2020 Financial Street Forum held in Beijing last week.

The wallets make use of near field communications technology to permit the transfer of the digital renminbi between different devices simply by tapping them or placing them in close proximity, without any need for an Internet connection or even a telecommunications signal.

Mu refuted claims that digital renminbi wallets will need to be registered to mobile phone numbers or mobile phone devices themselves, and that they will only be accessible via the use of a mobile phone number.

“If you do not have a device then there is no means of issuing a verification code, so they are only used for the verification of required information and are not tied together,” said Mu.

Mu said that the digital renminbi will make use of the broader accounts system as its foundation, and that only a single identification marker will be needed to open up a digital wallet.

The southern tech hub of Shenzhen recently saw the staging of a digital renminbi “lottery” which concluded on 18 October, and awarded 47,573 out of 50,000 winners in the city 200 yuan each via digital wallets made accessible via online links.

Mu said that “the enthusiasm of the public exceeded our expectations” and that 95.15% of the winners claimed their digital renminbi prizes, which were confined to usage for purchases at selected retailers in Shenzhen.

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