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Mia Nurmamat

China has added eight more commercial banks to its central bank-backed digital currency network, the latest move by Beijing to scale up adoption of the digital yuan, or e-CNY, and embed it more deeply into the country’s financial system.
The expansion follows Beijing’s pledge to “steadily develop the digital yuan” in its latest five-year plan, the country’s blueprint document for socio-economic development. It also comes after 12 banks were added to the network in March, bringing the total number of e-CNY operators to 30.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) added eight lenders – including Ping An Bank, Bank of Shanghai and Bank of Hangzhou – to the e-CNY network, according to an official announcement on Monday.
The latest expansion also brings more regional lenders into the system, including Huishang Bank, Bank of Changsha and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank.
Under the central bank’s supervision, commercial banks are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the e-CNY and compliance requirements including customer identity verification, anti-money-laundering checks and transaction monitoring.
China began piloting the digital yuan in 2019, becoming one of the first major economies to test a central bank digital currency on a large scale. Its use has since expanded from retail payments and salary transfers to government services, corporate settlements and cross-border payments.
However, retail adoption has been relatively slow, as Chinese consumers have become accustomed to using Alipay and WeChat Pay, leaving Beijing with the challenge of encouraging wider use.

Alipay is operated by Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding which owns the South China Morning Post. WeChat Pay is operated by Tencent Holdings.
PBOC said on Monday it would continue to bring more institutions into the digital yuan network to broaden market participation and build an “open, inclusive and fair” ecosystem.
China overhauled the digital yuan framework in January, shifting it from “digital cash” towards “digital deposit money” by allowing verified wallet balances to earn interest and bringing them under banks’ reserve requirement framework.
A KPMG report in July said some e-CNY operators had begun paying interest on verified wallet balances at their standard demand-deposit rates, further deepening the digital currency’s links with bank accounts, liability management and transaction settlement.
China has also been expanding the digital yuan into cross-border trade, financial markets and other financial applications. It established an international operations centre for the digital yuan in Shanghai last September to develop cross-border infrastructure and promote the currency’s international use.
In June, the first batch of 26 Chinese and overseas financial institutions joined a cross-border digital yuan settlement platform covering markets including Thailand, Qatar and Brazil, as Beijing seeks to reduce reliance on the dollar-dominated global payment system.
According to the latest figures released by PBOC, the digital yuan had been used in 3.48 billion transactions worth 16.7 trillion yuan (US$2.41 trillion) by the end of November 2025.


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China launched the digital yuan in 2019, but retail adoption has been slow as Chinese consumers are accustomed to using Alipay and WeChat Pay


China launched the digital yuan in 2019, but retail adoption has been slow as Chinese consumers are accustomed to using Alipay and WeChat Pay.


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China expands digital yuan network with 8 new banks to accelerate adoption

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}China launched the digital yuan in 2019, but retail adoption has been slow as Chinese consumers are accustomed to using Alipay and WeChat Pay

China launched the digital yuan in 2019, but retail adoption has been slow as Chinese consumers are accustomed to using Alipay and WeChat Pay