After a Successful Pilot in Hong Kong, Tests of China's Digital Yuan to Expand
- Implementation of the digital yuan could significantly reduce the cost of cross-border transactions.

After the successful completion of an initial pilot program to test the use of the digital yuan across borders, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is seeking to expand testing of the digital asset. Bloomberg reported that the initial tests were conducted between multiple parties, including merchants and a bank chosen by mainland Chinese authorities.
According to the HKMA, plans for the next phase of pilots are already underway: “We have tested the use of the related app, system connectivity and certain use cases such as cross-boundary purchases,” the Authority told Bloomberg.
The Digital Yuan Grows Closer to Launch than Ever
While the cross-border tests with Hong Kong were conducted fairly recently, pilot programs of the digital currency have been underway in mainland China for several years.
Indeed, the People’s Bank of China began working on the country’s digital currency initiative all the way back in 2014. Throughout this and last year, a number of trials have been conducted in major cities across the country, including Shenzhen. Additional trials are planned for the Winter Olympics, which will be conducted in Beijing next year.
In a report published on April 12th, Oliver Wyman consultancy said that the implementation of the digital yuan could result in a much faster and less expensive cross-border transaction settlement infrastructure. The report said that currently, cross-border payments in Hong Kong cost between $20 billion to $40 billion per year, which is equivalent to nearly 11% of the city’s 2020 GDP.
Zhou Xiaochan, former Governor of the People’s Bank of China, previously said that the digital currency is not intended to replace other world currencies, like the dollar or euro: “If you are willing to use it, the yuan can be used for trade and investment. But, we are not like Libra Libra Libra is a yet-to-be-released cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook, Inc., that will aim to serve as a global payment system and a stable financial infrastructure that people across the world can use. The projected release date of the libra cryptocurrency is currently slated for 2020, while the project is currently being managed by the Libra Association.Headquartered from Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association main purpose is founded on three pillars.This includes the provision of a framework of governance oversight for the Libra network and Libra reserve, overseeing active operations and longevity of the Libra payment system, and facilitating the flow of services of the Libra Blockchain.The Libra Association is overseen by the Libra Association Council.This is comprised of organizations from the technology, telecommunication, payment, blockchain, venture capital, and nonprofit sectors.The creators of the coin are Morgan Beller, who initially started working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at Facebook in 2017, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. Before the announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency on June 18th, 2019, Facebook had been considering coining the digital currency GlobalCoin or Facebook Coin.Will Libra Ever Launch? Facebook has expressed multiple times that they will not launch the Libra cryptocurrency until all regulatory matters have been met.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since assured lawmakers that Libra would not launch without first acquiring approval from United States regulators. Past participants of the Libra Association who left in October of 2019 include PayPal, eBay, Book Holdings, Mercado Pago, Visa, Stripe, and MasterCard. It should be noted that the source code for Libra is written in Rust that is open-source through the Apache License. What’s unique about Libra is that it will not depend upon cryptocurrency mining while only members of the Libra Association will be in a position to validate and process transactions. Facebook plans to launch a digital wallet known as Calibra in 2020, which will serve as an avenue for acquiring Libra along with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Libra is a yet-to-be-released cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook, Inc., that will aim to serve as a global payment system and a stable financial infrastructure that people across the world can use. The projected release date of the libra cryptocurrency is currently slated for 2020, while the project is currently being managed by the Libra Association.Headquartered from Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association main purpose is founded on three pillars.This includes the provision of a framework of governance oversight for the Libra network and Libra reserve, overseeing active operations and longevity of the Libra payment system, and facilitating the flow of services of the Libra Blockchain.The Libra Association is overseen by the Libra Association Council.This is comprised of organizations from the technology, telecommunication, payment, blockchain, venture capital, and nonprofit sectors.The creators of the coin are Morgan Beller, who initially started working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at Facebook in 2017, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. Before the announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency on June 18th, 2019, Facebook had been considering coining the digital currency GlobalCoin or Facebook Coin.Will Libra Ever Launch? Facebook has expressed multiple times that they will not launch the Libra cryptocurrency until all regulatory matters have been met.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since assured lawmakers that Libra would not launch without first acquiring approval from United States regulators. Past participants of the Libra Association who left in October of 2019 include PayPal, eBay, Book Holdings, Mercado Pago, Visa, Stripe, and MasterCard. It should be noted that the source code for Libra is written in Rust that is open-source through the Apache License. What’s unique about Libra is that it will not depend upon cryptocurrency mining while only members of the Libra Association will be in a position to validate and process transactions. Facebook plans to launch a digital wallet known as Calibra in 2020, which will serve as an avenue for acquiring Libra along with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Read this Term, and we don’t have an ambition to replace existing currencies.”
After the successful completion of an initial pilot program to test the use of the digital yuan across borders, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is seeking to expand testing of the digital asset. Bloomberg reported that the initial tests were conducted between multiple parties, including merchants and a bank chosen by mainland Chinese authorities.
According to the HKMA, plans for the next phase of pilots are already underway: “We have tested the use of the related app, system connectivity and certain use cases such as cross-boundary purchases,” the Authority told Bloomberg.
The Digital Yuan Grows Closer to Launch than Ever
While the cross-border tests with Hong Kong were conducted fairly recently, pilot programs of the digital currency have been underway in mainland China for several years.
Indeed, the People’s Bank of China began working on the country’s digital currency initiative all the way back in 2014. Throughout this and last year, a number of trials have been conducted in major cities across the country, including Shenzhen. Additional trials are planned for the Winter Olympics, which will be conducted in Beijing next year.
In a report published on April 12th, Oliver Wyman consultancy said that the implementation of the digital yuan could result in a much faster and less expensive cross-border transaction settlement infrastructure. The report said that currently, cross-border payments in Hong Kong cost between $20 billion to $40 billion per year, which is equivalent to nearly 11% of the city’s 2020 GDP.
Zhou Xiaochan, former Governor of the People’s Bank of China, previously said that the digital currency is not intended to replace other world currencies, like the dollar or euro: “If you are willing to use it, the yuan can be used for trade and investment. But, we are not like Libra Libra Libra is a yet-to-be-released cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook, Inc., that will aim to serve as a global payment system and a stable financial infrastructure that people across the world can use. The projected release date of the libra cryptocurrency is currently slated for 2020, while the project is currently being managed by the Libra Association.Headquartered from Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association main purpose is founded on three pillars.This includes the provision of a framework of governance oversight for the Libra network and Libra reserve, overseeing active operations and longevity of the Libra payment system, and facilitating the flow of services of the Libra Blockchain.The Libra Association is overseen by the Libra Association Council.This is comprised of organizations from the technology, telecommunication, payment, blockchain, venture capital, and nonprofit sectors.The creators of the coin are Morgan Beller, who initially started working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at Facebook in 2017, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. Before the announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency on June 18th, 2019, Facebook had been considering coining the digital currency GlobalCoin or Facebook Coin.Will Libra Ever Launch? Facebook has expressed multiple times that they will not launch the Libra cryptocurrency until all regulatory matters have been met.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since assured lawmakers that Libra would not launch without first acquiring approval from United States regulators. Past participants of the Libra Association who left in October of 2019 include PayPal, eBay, Book Holdings, Mercado Pago, Visa, Stripe, and MasterCard. It should be noted that the source code for Libra is written in Rust that is open-source through the Apache License. What’s unique about Libra is that it will not depend upon cryptocurrency mining while only members of the Libra Association will be in a position to validate and process transactions. Facebook plans to launch a digital wallet known as Calibra in 2020, which will serve as an avenue for acquiring Libra along with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Libra is a yet-to-be-released cryptocurrency proposed by Facebook, Inc., that will aim to serve as a global payment system and a stable financial infrastructure that people across the world can use. The projected release date of the libra cryptocurrency is currently slated for 2020, while the project is currently being managed by the Libra Association.Headquartered from Geneva, Switzerland, the Libra Association main purpose is founded on three pillars.This includes the provision of a framework of governance oversight for the Libra network and Libra reserve, overseeing active operations and longevity of the Libra payment system, and facilitating the flow of services of the Libra Blockchain.The Libra Association is overseen by the Libra Association Council.This is comprised of organizations from the technology, telecommunication, payment, blockchain, venture capital, and nonprofit sectors.The creators of the coin are Morgan Beller, who initially started working on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at Facebook in 2017, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil. Before the announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency on June 18th, 2019, Facebook had been considering coining the digital currency GlobalCoin or Facebook Coin.Will Libra Ever Launch? Facebook has expressed multiple times that they will not launch the Libra cryptocurrency until all regulatory matters have been met.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has since assured lawmakers that Libra would not launch without first acquiring approval from United States regulators. Past participants of the Libra Association who left in October of 2019 include PayPal, eBay, Book Holdings, Mercado Pago, Visa, Stripe, and MasterCard. It should be noted that the source code for Libra is written in Rust that is open-source through the Apache License. What’s unique about Libra is that it will not depend upon cryptocurrency mining while only members of the Libra Association will be in a position to validate and process transactions. Facebook plans to launch a digital wallet known as Calibra in 2020, which will serve as an avenue for acquiring Libra along with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Read this Term, and we don’t have an ambition to replace existing currencies.”