Lu Lei, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank: The new generation of digital RMB measurement framework, management system, operating mechanism and ecosystem will be officially launched on January 1, 2026

# Financial Times

Lu Lei, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), stated in an article that the Action Plan on Further Strengthening the Construction of the e-CNY Management and Service System and Relevant Financial Infrastructure has established a mechanism clarifying that e-CNY will evolve from the era of digital cash to the era of Digital Deposit Money. The future e-CNY will be a modern digital payment and circulation instrument with the following characteristics: technically supported and supervised by the central bank, liability - bearing of commercial banks, account - based while compatible with the features of distributed ledger technology, and issued and circulated within the financial system. It will also perform the monetary functions of a unit of account, a store of value, and a means of cross - border payment.

The Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five - Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, has put forward the goals of "accelerating the building of a powerful financial country" and "steadily developing e-CNY", providing a roadmap for the development and improvement of e-CNY in the coming period. In response to the trends of digital and intelligent economic and social development, to thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on financial work, to meet the new demands of the real economy and the financial system for the issuance, circulation and use of e-CNY, to keep up with the historical trends in the evolution of the international monetary system, and to effectively improve the quality and efficiency of e-CNY management and service capabilities, the PBOC will introduce the above - mentioned Action Plan on the basis of summarizing ten years of R & D and pilot experience. A new - generation e-CNY measurement framework, management system, operation mechanism and ecological system will be officially launched and implemented on January 1, 2026.

## I. Adhere to Keeping Pace with the Times to Define the Positioning and Development Direction of e-CNY

General Secretary Xi Jinping has clearly emphasized that "we must promote the innovative development of finance on the track of marketization and rule of law. Financial security relies on systems, vitality comes from the market, and order is guaranteed by the rule of law". Since the outbreak of the 2008 global financial crisis, digital assets, cryptocurrencies and new payment tools have emerged one after another. This is not only an objective reflection of economic digitalization and intelligence in the financial sector, but also has brought about a series of micro and macro financial risks and challenges such as shadow banking and financial disintermediation. Faced with the new situation, central banks of major economies and international organizations have started research and development on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). In 2018, the Bank for International Settlements defined CBDC as "digital cash with value/blockchain - based model issued by the central bank". The European Central Bank defined it as "a central bank liability provided in digital form to citizens and businesses for retail payments". These economies and international organizations view digital currency from the perspective of central banks' responsibilities.

China started the research and development of e-CNY relatively early. In 2014, under the unified arrangement of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the PBOC launched theoretical research and closed - door tests. In 2016, the PBOC put forward a theoretical framework for legal digital currency, namely a digital payment instrument with digital currency characteristics (DC/EP), and carried out prudent, scientific and steady pilot explorations on the management system and operation mechanism of e-CNY. After repeated argumentation and open - door pilots, a preliminary e-CNY ecological system has been established, and a development path of digital currency with Chinese characteristics has been blazed. This path is led by the central bank, relies on commercial financial institutions and the existing payment system, and integrates the latest technological advances.

At present, positive results have been achieved in the pilot promotion of e-CNY both domestically and cross - border, and e-CNY is in a leading position among the CBDC projects being piloted by central banks around the world. First, it has universal hybrid currency capabilities, including both account - based and blockchain - based models, software and hardware wallets, and online and offline payment functions. Second, it has programmable currency capabilities. By using e-CNY smart contracts, the digitalization and mandatory automatic execution of contracts can be realized. Third, it has efficient regulatory currency capabilities, featuring high management transparency, standardization and interoperability. Fourth, it has full - scenario currency capabilities. It has formed replicable and scalable application models covering online and offline scenarios in wholesale and retail, catering, culture and tourism, education, medical care, public services, social governance, rural revitalization and cross - border settlement. It has also been applied in multiple scenarios to advance the five key areas of financial development. As of the end of November 2025, e-CNY has processed a total of 3.48 billion transactions with a cumulative transaction value of 16.7 trillion yuan. A total of 230 million personal wallets and 18.84 million corporate wallets have been opened through the e-CNY APP. The Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge (mBridge) has handled 4,047 cross - border payment transactions with a cumulative transaction value of 387.2 billion yuan. Among them, e-CNY accounts for about 95.3% of the total transaction value of all currencies.

At the same time, we are well aware that as the real demand for the development and application of digital currency in the economy and society continues to grow, the digital currencies promoted by central banks around the world are facing four common theoretical and practical challenges.

First, we must correctly understand the challenges that rapidly evolving modern digital payment tools pose to central banks' monetary regulation. From various virtual assets to the current stablecoins, they all exist in the form of payment tools. Objectively, this has led to the emergence and growth of various emerging "currencies" serving as means of payment and circulation, which circulate independently outside the financial system. The rapid expansion of payment tools in circulation and their linkage to the volatile prices of financial assets, combined with programmable capabilities and smart contracts, have brought new challenges to monetary regulation. On the other hand, e-CNY has unique advantages in accuracy and accessibility in expanding its application scenarios in the five key areas of financial development. For example, innovative financial solutions for upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain, the intelligent development of the "carbon - inclusive" system, the strengthening of the management of prepaid funds to protect financial consumers, and the provision of services for smart elderly care are all in a state of continuous advancement. In addition, the regulatory transparency of the e-CNY umbrella wallet system and its multi - level fund management capabilities hold promising prospects for low - cost and high - efficiency applications in closed - loop fields such as public utilities, medical insurance and social security, corporate group treasury management, green energy trading, and state treasury fund operations.

Second, we should use new financial technologies such as blockchain to support the five key areas of financial development and improve the efficiency of cross - border payments. Among various digital technologies, blockchain has technical features such as immutability, traceability, multi - source information sharing, and multi - party peer - to - peer collaboration. It has advantages in applications in industries such as securities settlement, property rights transfer, transaction registration, and supply chain finance. It is expected to integrate logistics, capital flows, and document flows in complex financial scenarios, and reshape the trust - building mechanism among multiple stakeholders.

The Action Plan proposes setting up an International Operation Center for e-CNY in Shanghai and further promoting the mBridge, both of which are practical applications of blockchain technology in the field of e-CNY. Based on the Chengfang Chain, the International Operation Center for e-CNY will build a blockchain service platform and a digital asset platform with a "unified ledger and segmented business areas" model. It will provide on - chain settlement tools and cross - chain connection capabilities, explore compliant digital asset innovation that facilitates transparent regulatory oversight, support the on - chain issuance, registration, custody and fund settlement of bills, trade finance instruments, carbon emission rights, etc., and gradually form advantages such as 24/7 operation, one - stop access, diversified services, currency connectivity and system interoperability. The mBridge focuses on leveraging the distributed ledger technology of blockchain to address the issues of "business sovereignty and monetary sovereignty" in different jurisdictions. It effectively ensures equal status, power, responsibility and interests among all participating entities, and realizes data synchronization among them. In the next step, the cross - border use of e-CNY will continue to expand its coverage, reduce service costs through technological upgrades, facilitate cross - border trade and investment and financing, support the innovation of offshore financial services, and promote high - level and institutional opening - up. Looking ahead, the choice of the business and technical model of e-CNY will always be based on meeting the needs of the real economy. We will adopt an inclusive and prudent approach to the development directions of account - based and value - based digital currencies, so as to promote e-CNY to meet the needs of different scenarios and business entities.

## IV. Adhere to Building a Solid Risk Prevention System for the Development of e-CNY

General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that financial work should adhere to the principle of making progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing new systems before abolishing old ones. We should be proactive, speed up the establishment of necessary systems, and continuously solve problems and make progress while maintaining stability. To steadily develop e-CNY, stability should be our top priority, and we should continuously improve the risk prevention system.

First, we will separate regulatory and operational functions to ensure full - coverage functional supervision. The Action Plan clarifies that at the regulatory level, the PBOC will set up an e-CNY Management Committee to coordinate relevant business lines, conduct functional supervision within their respective scope of responsibilities, and form a regulatory synergy. A self - regulatory office will be established within the Digital Currency Research Institute to take the lead in formulating and promoting the implementation of self - regulatory norms for the operation of e-CNY, and guide participating institutions to establish and improve market incentive mechanisms. At the operational level, the security and continuity of system operations will be ensured. Under the management of the Digital Currency Research Institute, the e-CNY Operation and Management Center and the International Operation Center for e-CNY will be responsible for the construction, operation and security protection of the central bank - side e-CNY system and the cross - border business system respectively, forming a "two - wing" pattern that supports the domestic and international dual circulation. The separation of regulatory and operational functions provides a institutional guarantee for e-CNY to be "well - regulated and innovative".

Second, we will advance the development of regulatory technologies and capabilities in line with the times. At present, artificial intelligence and big data are empowering a new generation of financial regulatory technologies. The overall governance of data within the e-CNY system can effectively improve the quality of business data. The establishment of a "head - to - head" regulatory data interface and the addition of regulatory nodes on the blockchain service platform can enhance the real - time access and effectiveness of data for regulatory authorities, enabling flexible, efficient and intelligent risk identification. We will closely monitor the development trends of new technologies such as post - quantum cryptography, computing power and smart contracts, and continuously upgrade and iterate our systems. With independent, controllable, safe and reliable infrastructure as the support, we will effectively prevent financial risks and maintain financial stability. Starting from a new starting point, based on its two - tier operational structure, e-CNY will always adhere to the principle of maintaining integrity and pursuing innovation, take serving the real economy as its fundamental purpose, effectively prevent and control risks, and steadily promote the transformation from digital cash and electronic payment to digital currency and digital payment. It will strive to inject technological and epoch - making momentum into building a "strong currency" and lay a solid modern monetary foundation for building a powerful financial country.

Source: Financial Times

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