China could be ready to officially launch the digital yuan as a fully operational central bank digital currency (CBDC) after the Beijing Winter Olympics in early 2022, according to reports in the Chinese media.
The reports come as all six state-owned Chinese banks launch incentive schemes to encourage staff to promote the digital yuan to customers.
According to Shanghai Securities News[1], a report released in April by Shanghai University said that “the People’s Bank of China has a clear design for the digital renminbi, and the technical preparation and domestic environment are becoming more mature”, and that “the digital remnimbi is expected to officially land nationwide after the completion of the Beijing Winter Olympics testing”.
In an interview with former Bank of China president Li Lihui, China Daily[2] now also suggests that “the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing will likely prove to be a breakout phase for China’s digital renminbi” and that “some entry-points [to the Games], such as the cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou in Guangdong province, are expected to be ready for extensive use of digital RMB payments during the games”.
Lihui told China Daily that he was “full of confidence” that the 2022 Games “will be the touchstone, or a turning point, for the digital RMB,” the newspaper reports.
However, he also stated that “more time may be needed to launch the digital RMB nationwide. The underlying architecture should be further optimised for broader application scenarios and satisfy the huge consumer market”.
Bank incentives
Staff at all six of China’s state-owned banks — Bank of China[3], China Construction Bank[4], Industrial and Commercial Bank of
