Bank of Ningbo is soliciting suppliers to develop a system for processing the digital yuan, signaling Beijing may expand e-CNY licensing as it pushes wider adoption. The move reflects growing institutional readiness among Chinese banks to integrate the central bank digital currency into retail and merchant rails.
A proposal filed at the 2026 National People’s Congress would amend the 2003 People’s Bank of China Law to explicitly recognize the digital yuan as legal tender, with regulators citing outdated rules.
Anthony Scaramucci warned that the CLARITY Act’s proposed ban on earning yield from stablecoins could weaken the U.S. dollar’s competitiveness versus China’s digital yuan, by pushing liquidity and innovation offshore.
China’s central bank has announced plans to enhance the functionality and expand adoption of the digital yuan in 2026, following a pilot cross-border transaction with Laos. Officials framed the update as a move toward wider international use of the currency and improved payment features.
China has executed the first consumer retail payment across borders using the digital yuan in Laos, a milestone in the e‑CNY’s international rollout. The move aims to make everyday transactions for travelers and merchants faster and more convenient.
State-linked Hua Xia Bank tokenized roughly $600 million in yuan-denominated bonds and sold them at auction exclusively to digital yuan users, marking a high-profile CBDC use case.