en
Back to the list

China, digital currency will be launched in Hong Kong - The Cryptonomist

source-logo  en.cryptonomist.ch 12 August 2020 07:17, UTC
Listen this article
download

The new digital currency of China will be launched in the Greater Bay Area of Hong Kong

This is what the president of the Guangzhou branch of the central bank of China, Bai Hexiang, said, according to news.southcn.com

“We support the first pilot application of digital currency payment scenarios in the Greater Bay Area and promote qualified financial institutions in the Greater Bay Area to become pilot institutions for digital currency launch operations. Sharing economy platform companies and retail platform companies participate in the digital currency payment application pilot program, accelerate the opening of digital currency applications by public service departments, actively expand digital currency payment application scenarios, and promote the first application of digital currency in the Greater Bay Area”.

After all, the tests of the Chinese digital currency (DCEP) that began some time ago are already taking place in Shenzhen, one of the main cities in the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau. 

Digital Chinese Currency, ongoing tests in the Hong Kong area

This is a megalopolis located on the Pearl River Delta, consisting of nine cities and two special administrative regions in southern China. In total, it has more than 56 million inhabitants, which is more or less the same as the population of South Korea. 

In addition, some Chinese experts believe that the fintech sector in Guangdong is sufficiently developed to have a natural advantage in the transition from a traditional to a digital currency, and this could help the People Bank of China (PBoC) to spread the use of the DCEP.

According to data from the Guangzhou branch of PBoC, Guangdong Province recorded 4.5 billion mobile payments worth about 12 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2020, an increase of 37.97% and 16.35% respectively over the past three years.

The Director of the Guangdong Province’s Local Financial Supervision Bureau, He Xiaojun, said: 

“Guangdong will further encourage innovation, deepen business integration with Hong Kong and Macao in virtual banking, overcome barriers and innovate. The use of digital currencies enables modern financial technology to better serve the construction and development of the entire Greater Bay Area”. 

According to the president of the Guangzhou branch of the central bank of China, Bai Hexiang, Guangdong is a very significant market, with developed trading activity, a concentrated population, and extensive foreign trade, and these factors could become the support for the expansion of the digital currency, especially with a view to large-scale use in the future. 

However, it has not revealed what the timing might be, also because it is not yet even known when the tests should end. 

However, it would not be absurd to imagine that by the end of 2020, the DCEP could be launched on the market as a commonly usable currency. 

en.cryptonomist.ch